


Not a Sky Pirate

by emilythesmelly



Category: Final Fantasy XII
Genre: Awkward, Maeve - Freeform, Multi, Viera, aelia - Freeform, beginning to end, karre, socially inept hotty, the whole game
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-07-28
Updated: 2018-06-15
Packaged: 2018-07-27 05:12:26
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 26
Words: 45,260
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7604905
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/emilythesmelly/pseuds/emilythesmelly
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Karre is not a sky pirate.  She's a treasure hunter.  It's different (less heights).  Yet, somehow, she gets wrapped up in the affairs of some sky pirates, street urchins, a kingslayer, a dead princess, a nanny, and a drunk.  And, even though everything's a mess and she'd really rather be on the ground, and even though she can't quite bring herself to say the words out loud, she loves being around these people.  And maybe the skies aren't so bad.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Sneaking In

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is a rewrite of the original first chapter of this fanfic. The first draft was done in January 2011, and it was a very poor representation of the writing of this still (as of February 2018) updating fanfic. It's fundamentally the same, just polished. If you're new to the fanfic, welcome. This note probably doesn't matter to you (except that the writing might dip a bit for the next few early chapters). If you're an old reader, feel free to retry or not this first chapter. You won't miss anything if you don't, but it's not painful to read anymore.

The Royal Palace of Rabanastre was a maze.  A beautifully decorated, Imperial soldier-infested maze.  I slipped around a corner, dodging the sight-lines of one of the soldiers, and took a deep breath.  So far, the plan was going well.  I'd slipped in to the palace without a hitch; people who passed me by assumed by my outfit that I was an Archadian well-to-do visiting the city for Vayne's party.  I'd slipped away from the festivities fairly easily, too; a quick mention of the bathroom and I was off without another thought.  Now I was up in the upper levels of the palace, searching for the Treasury that I knew was around here somewhere.  I had no scruples about stealing from the Rabanastran Treasury.  Its rightful owners were dead, and its new one was, from all accounts, an ego-maniac.  
  
I slipped around another corner and nearly yelped when I came face-to-face with another person.  Blonde, tan, a bit dirty, wearing patchwork armor and clothing, he stared at me with wide, blue-grey eyes.  He wasn't an Imperial.  Not only did he lack a set of the uniform, easily identifiable armor, there was also in his eyes something  _Rabanastran_.  He had snuck into the palace as I had, hoping to find riches, and, behind his surprise, there burned a loathing for the people who had taken his home from him and a hunger for something  _more_.  
  
It tugged at me.  I didn't fully understand why, but I saw something familiar in the boy in front of me, something about the poor Rabanastran with dreams of something greater.  
  
So I put my finger to my lips and winked at him.  And I pushed him across the hallway that bisected the one we hid in, compelling him into safety again.  And I stepped out behind him into the open area as the guards turned to look at the sound.  
  
"What are you doing here?" one of them asked, taking a step toward me and grabbing onto his sword.  
  
"Oh, I'm sorry," I said, doing my best to look like a harmless, lost, noble lady and donning my Archadian accent.  "I seem to have lost my way."  I took a few steps toward them, away from the other thief.  "Gentlemen, could you help me?"   _I hope he's taking this chance to run_ , I thought, not daring to look over my shoulder.  
  
"You're far off from where you ought to be, miss.  Where'd you head off to?" one of the guards asked, relaxing and taking his hand off of his sword.  
  
I pouted, twirling a strand of my hair.  "Oh, I was just heading off to the little girls' room to freshen up.  I suppose I took a wrong turn."  I did a big, dramatic sigh.  "This palace is just so big."  I gave the guards a coy smile.  "It must be hard to guard a palace so big."  
  
I heard one of them clear his throat as he stepped forward, puffing his chest out.  "I'd be happy to show you the way, miss."  
  
I rushed forward and clung to his arm, though the urge to roll my eyes at how easily they had been manipulated was strong.  "Thank you so much."  
  
He led me back down hallways that I'd already carefully snuck through.  I started forming a plan, and I said, "It's very kind of you to escort me like this."  
  
"Oh, uh, of course," he stuttered, aware that I was clinging more tightly to him.  "I'm happy to do it."  
  
We were coming up on a small nook that I remembered ducking into, and I clicked my tongue.  "Do you have to wear that all the time?" I asked, and I tapped the forehead lightly with my nail.  "Seems rather stuffy."  I let my finger slide softly down the cheek of the helmet.  "I can't imagine having to hid myself away all day like that.  Especially at a party!  It should be a crime."  I was laying it on thick, but it was my experience that guards and soldiers would take any opportunity to take their armor off in the company of a beautiful woman.  
  
He hesitated for a moment, and to really sell it I gave my lower lip a small bite and smiled.  "You know, you're right," he said, and he reached up to take the helmet off.  It was a shame, too, because he was fairly handsome.  
  
I grinned at him and tugged him gently toward the nook that we'd come up beside.  He resisted a little, worried about his duties probably, but my hand on the back of his neck was enough encouragement.  I did kiss him, to sell it and because he was cute and it'd been a while since I'd been kissed, and then I slammed his head into the wall behind him.  The betrayal didn't even register before he slumped to the ground, unconscious.  I waited a moment to be sure that no one had heard the slump of armor, then used a nearby curtain tie back to restrain his arms behind him.  I stood, straightened, and made sure that the scuffle hadn't messed up my outfit or hair.  
  
I began to retrace my steps, heading back for the treasury and that kid that I'd let get away.  I froze when I heard voices coming from around a corner.  I waited, listening.  
  
"I heard they called in them special forces for t'night," a husky voice said.  
  
"No way.  Why?" another voice, lighter but equally as dumb, responded.  
  
"Sounds like the Lord Consul thinks someone's gon' go an' kill 'im!"  
  
The second voice gasped at the same time that I did.  Was the Resistance moving on Rabanastre?   _Time to go and leave that bullshit to the people who care_ , I thought, but they'd heard my gasp.  
  
"What was that?" the first one asked, and their footsteps approached.  
  
I dropped to my knees and began running my hands over the carpet beneath me, muttering under my breath, "Where is it?  Where is it?"  
  
Both were surprised to see me, to see a rich-looking Archadian viera on the floor below them.  One, who I assumed was the first, was fat and old while the other was middle-aged and lanky.  Neither had attractive teeth or faces.  "Ma'am," the lanky one said, "what are you doin' on the floor?"  
  
"Oh, gentlemen!" I said dramatically, internally cringing at the disrespect I had just done the word "gentlemen."  "I seem to have lost my ring!  It's brand new and worth nearly five thousand gil!"  I put a hand over my heart to emphasize what a grievous loss this was to me.  "Such honorable and kind gentlemen like yourselves could spare a few moments of your busy day to help a poor woman like me find her missing ring, wouldn't you?"  I moved my hand to my bottom lip, which jutted out ever so slightly.  It was another old staple, another reliable way to get out a jam.  
  
They both stared down my dress at my breasts, which while they were not particularly big  _were_  on display tonight.  I let them, subtly pulling my arms in and pushing them together, and the men got on the ground to help me.  Luckily for me, neither of these men seemed to take their jobs as seriously as the last guard because neither wore their helmet.  
  
I moved toward the lanky one first, thinking that he'd be easier to take out.  I continued to mime looking for a nonexistent ring while sidling up close.  I leaned forward, making my blue eyes big and helpless, and asked, "Have you found it yet?"  His eyes again got caught on my breasts as he moved to look at me, so I took his chin in my hand and said, "I'll be so grateful when you find it."  
  
He gulped audibly.  "S-s-sure thing, ma'am."  He chuckled nervously.  
  
I checked very quickly to make sure that the other guard's eyes were on the floor, and I backhanded the lanky one, hitting him hard in the head with my metal hand jewelry.  He went down with a rather hollow clunk, and I spun around to the second guard, who had sprung up at the noise and stared at me with wide eyes.  I grinned at him and, dropping the accent, said, "You didn't see a thing.  Isn't that right?"  He nodded, but with a flick of my wrist I cast Stop on him.  He stood, frozen in place, and without any trouble at all I backhanded him as well, watching as the spell faded as unconsciousness took him and he fell to the ground.  
  
Though all parts of my new, improvised plan seemed inelegant, I cast Vanish on myself and ran quickly and directly to the secret entrance to the Garamsythe.   _I will not get caught here with the Resistance._  
  


* * *

I found a small, dry corner of the sewer and slipped out of my impractical, Archadian outfit and back into my adventuring clothes, took out my lance, and grabbed my map.  I was gritting my teeth through the vile much coating nearly every surface in the sewers, trying to avoid rats and bats and giant toads.

"Didn't even swipe anything," I muttered bitterly to myself as I went.  Then I remembered that kid.  "If he got anything, I have the right to take it.  He wouldn't have even gotten it without me."  The thought crossed my mind that the mess with the Resistance might have ruined things for him, and I wondered if he made it out alright.  It was a distant concern, seeing as I wouldn't be spending much time with him anyway, but I did wonder.  And a small part of me hoped that he made it out alright.

  
Then I heard a commotion nearby and saw him!  He had escaped the palace into the sewers as I had, but he was not alone.  He was with a viera dressed in black and wielding a bow, a hume woman in white and gold with a haughty air about her, and a very handsome man with an intricate, expensive-looking vest on who was holding a gun.  They were also surrounded by five flan.  
  
I ran over, jumping from my platform over rushing sewage to theirs, slashing at a flan as I passed.  The boy looked at me in shock, so I winked at him.  "Didn't think you'd get rid of me that easily, did you?" I said, grinning and flicking slime off of my lance.  
  
"How did you...?" he asked, his voice trailing off.  
  
"This is the viera friend you were talking about, Vaan?" the handsome man said, looking me over as he took a shot at the largest flan.  
  
"Karre," I said, no reservations about introducing myself to him.  I kept hitting the flan beside me, though my blade wasn't very effective against their gelatinous forms.  
  
"That's Balthier," Vaan said, moving up beside me and hitting at the flan on his way.  "And that's Fran," he motioned to the viera, "and Amalia," and the hume woman.  
  
I nodded a quick greeting to them, then turned back to the flan.  It should have been an even fight, but one of the flan was giant and much stronger than the others.  While I was hacking away at one of them, I asked over my shoulder, "You get anything from that Treasury?"  
  
"Yeah, I did," he said, and I could hear the smile in his voice.  "Thanks."  
  
"It's mine."  
  
"What?"  He jumped out of the way of a flan tentacle and stared at me in confusion.  
  
"Without me, you wouldn't have it, so it should belong to me."  I shrugged at the obvious answer and finally managed to slice a flan in half.  
  
There was something like an amused scoff from Balthier, and Vaan shook his head.  "It's mine."  
  
"Then I'll need to be compensated for my assistance," I continued, refusing to budge.  "I had to humor some very disgusting guards after letting myself get caught.  I don't do that for free."  
  
"I don't have anything, though."  It was a sad admission as, together, we split another flan apart.  Ashe, Fran, and Balthier took out the other two small ones.  
  
"If you don't have gil, I guess I'll just sell you into slavery," I said, my voice matter of fact, though I gave the boy an elbow and a grin.  "Not that I think that'd be a lucrative deal."  
  
He wasn't sure how to react, wasn't sure how much was truth and how much was teasing.  We turned to the largest flan and, all together, were able to kill it.  We watched as it slid into the waterway, and I shuddered as I wiped a smear of flan goo off of my arm.  
  
Amalia spoke up.  "We should not linger here."  
  
I rolled my eyes at the obvious statement and started off toward the Lowtown entrance to the sewers.  I looked Vaan up and down, something else familiar about him tugging at my mind.  "You look familiar," I finally said.  "Have we met before tonight?"  
  
"Uhh, I don't think so," he replied, clearly still unsure how he felt about this viera who had come into his life.  
  
I squinted at him, trying to determine if he looked like someone I'd met or if he just looked  _Dalmascan_.  Then I remembered the face he reminded me of.  "Are you sure?  I was in Rabanastre a little while ago."  I pursed my lips, trying to do the math as every year ran together.  "Maybe seven years ago.  I was hunting a mark and a little boy helped me out.  Looked a lot like you, if I remember right."  
  
"What?"  
  
"Told me his friend Gwen saw the mark around here in the Garamsythe.  It was some wimpy zombie thing, but nasty looking as anything.  You sure that wasn't you?"  
  
"He said Gwen?"  His eyes were getting wider as I spoke.  
  
I nodded.  "Yeah, Gwen.  I didn't meet her, though.  Just went through him.  Hmm, if it wasn't you, who was it?"  
  
"Reks?  Was it Reks?"  Vaan grabbed my arm he was so excited about the answer.  
  
I looked down at him in surprise, the name sounding familiar in my ears.  "Yeah, that was it.  Do you know him?"  
  
The excitement turned quickly to sadness, and he looked away from me, dropping my arm.  "He was my brother.  He died.  In the war."  
  
I didn't know what to say, what to do to make it right, why I even cared about making it right when I didn't know this boy, but I didn't have time to think on it because, as the metal gate closed behind us, a giant ball of fire appeared in a dense fog around us.  "Shit," I said, watching as the ball of fire transformed into a flaming horse in front of us.  
  
We didn't speak.  Fran and Balthier took up positions on the edges of the room while Amalia, Vaan, and I stood in melee with the creature.  We could only leave when it was dead, and we were  _so close_  to being out in the clear.  
  
Or so we thought.  As the beast fizzled out of existence, a plethora of boots stomping surrounded us.  Within moments, soldiers lined the room, pointing crossbows at us.  "Stay where you are!" one yelled to us.  And then, to top it all off, Vayne Solidor himself stepped out of the crowd and looked down at us.  
  
Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Amalia step forward, but Balthier put a hand on her arm and whispered, "Now is not the time."  
  
The soldiers swarmed us.  
  


* * *

"They're the thieves who stole from the palace," someone in the crowd said.  We were in Lowtown, handcuffed, guarded, and being prepared to be shipped off to Nalbina.  It was degrading, being seet out on display for the rabble to gawk at.

"Is that what the commotion last night was about?" someone else said.  I sighed and shook my head.  I'd get out of this, but I was angry with myself for getting caught in the first place.

"They think me some common thief," Amalia said distastefully.  I was liking her less and less every time she opened her mouth.

"Better than a common assassin," Balthier said, and, looking on the bright side, reveled in the soft caress of his deep voice.

One of the guards pushed Amalia away from us.  "These people have done nothing.  Release them," she commanded with authority that she didn't really have.

"What are you doing?" Vaan asked.

"Don't interrupt me.  I'm thinking," she said curtly.

She was led away, and I snorted.  "Good riddance."

"Wait!" someone from the crowd yelled, coming forward.  She was young, with blond hair in two braids, and she was running for us.  A guard stopped her, and she struggled against him.  "He didn't know what he was doing!  You have to let him go!  You have to."

"Penelo," Vaan called, taking a single step forward and holding up his shackled hands.  "Sorry.  That dinner'll have to wait."

"I told you," she said sadly, slumping against the guard holding her back.

But she was pushing past him when another guard came forward and smacked Vaan upside the head, saying, "That's enough!"

"Leave him alone!" Penelo yelled, running for her friend.

Balthier stepped in front of her, a handkerchief in his hand.  "Hold onto this for me, would you?  Just until I bring Vaan back."

She took it and stood, silent.

"On your feet!" one of the guards commanded.  I was greatly amused to find that it was my lanky friend.  He got flustered when we made eye contact, so I winked at him.  "Uhh, you!  Over here!"  And then we were carted away.


	2. Sneaking Out

With my eyes still closed, I felt something scratchy and dirty underneath my skin.   _What is that?_   When I opened my eyes, the night before came rushing back.  I was trapped in Nalbina, and I'd have to find my way out.  However, I wouldn't have to do it alone.

"Ahh, you're awake," Balthier said.  He was alone with me, sitting down casually.

"Where're Vaan and Fran?" I asked, sitting up and looking around at the disgusting room and deteriorating bed.  There was a sizable skylight on an unreachable ceiling that was casting light down on my new comrade.

"Fran's off trying to find a way out of here.  Vaan's off exploring," he explained.

"And you are?" I asked, wondering why he was sitting with me when I'd been asleep.  Certainly wasn't having any riveting conversations.

"Conserving energy.  I'm sure we'll have to fight our way out of this place at one point or another."  He shrugged.

"Very true," I agreed.  "Then I shall join you in this energy conservation."

"By all means," he replied, gesturing invitingly.

I smelled something that made my toes curl and looked about for its source.  It was a corpse of a long-deceased bangaa.  Disgusting.  I walked over and sat next to Balthier.  "Does this happen to you and Fran often?"

"It's not a  _common_  occurrence," he replied, implying that it had happened on more than one occasion before.  "And you?  I'm assuming this isn't your first shuffle with the law."

I laughed, reminiscing.  "This is my first visit to Nalbina.  Rosaria and Archadia have much nicer dungeons.  Hell, Nabudis was like a fucking palace compared to this place.  Easier guards, too," I added snidely.  "Were you headed toward the treasury, too?"

"Fran and I thought we'd steal the Dawn Shard," he announced with another shrug.  "I'm assuming that that's where you were headed as well, Karre."

"I wasn't going with anything specific in mind, but, yeah, I was headed to the treasury.  Always a good time to be in Rabanastre, when the city's throwing a party.  Drunken guards and commotion."

"Why'd you let Vaan go instead?" he asked, genuinely sounding curious.  His mischievous, green eyes searched mine.  "You seem better than that."

"Better than to help a kid out? I _was_ coming back, you know. The goddamn rebels fucked my plan right up, though," I explained.

"That didn't answer my question," he said, leaning in.  
  
I raised an eyebrow. "I dunno. He looked like he could use it. I remembered being an amateur; no one gave me shit. Like I said, he looked like he could use it."  
  
"Your friend is getting into trouble," Fran announced in the doorway.  
  
I sighed and shrugged. "Here we go. Time to teach him something else."

***

"Something stinks in here, alright!  I've changed my mind; it's not a dungeon, it's a sty," Balthier announced, standing over the fighting pit.  Vaan had gotten himself into some trouble with three Seeqs.  After the Seeq yelled incoherently back at him, he spit and called, "I said you're the one that stinks, hamshanks!  Hear me now?"  He jumped over the railing and into the pit.  I walked down the stairs to the closed gate to watch.  "You alright, Vaan?"

Vaan nodded and the two of them began to fight against the Seeqs.  I didn't know what Vaan'd done to piss them off, but he'd done a good job.  "Well, fuck," I said under my breath, staring at Balthier with one eyebrow raised.  I could feel my stomach flipping seeing such an attractive and powerful man.

"You're welcome to help any time, Karre," Vaan called to me.

I shrugged.  "But the view is so nice from here."  I laughed.  It didn't take long for the Seeqs to get knocked out.  When they did, some of the other prisoners came over to see the victors.  I lifted up the bottom of the gate so that the two of them could climb out, but we stopped dead at the sound of Imperial soldiers.  There had to be fifty of them, followed by a shady bangaa.

"Through the oubliette," Fran said, suddenly appearing at my side.  "There's a way out.  Only..."

"Only you sense the Mist," Balthier finished, knowing the reason for his partner's apprehension.

In that moment, I hated Fran.  It wasn't her fault, but I couldn't stand her.  I couldn't remember the last time that I could sense the Mist.  What right did she have to be able to?  I was fairly sure that she'd left the Wood of her own accord!

A commotion from the guards drew our attention as Balthier and Vaan slid under the gate.  "What did you call me?  Say that again!"

"What?  Ye couldn't hear?" the bangaa responded incredulously.  "I merely said that the lot of ye are incompetent fools!  If ye've the sky pirate in yer hands, where is he?"

"You'd've done better, B'Gamnan?" the guard responded.  "By your own words, it was the Imperial Army that caught this sky pirate of yours.  We've done your job for you.  We don't require the assistance of filthy head hunters.  The Empire will restore order here."

"Eh?  What's that ye say now?  Maybe I'll wet my blade on _you_  before I kill Balthier," B'Gamnan replied aggressively.

I looked at the sky pirate with my eyebrows up.  He rolled his eyes, making me smile.  He knew what he was doing and who he was dealing with.  I had a feeling that B'Gamnan had been on his trail for a long time.

"That's enough, B'Gamnan!" someone else called, getting everyone's attention.  A man in ornate and oddly shaped armor came stalking down the stairs.

"A judge," Fran announced distastefully.

"Judge?" Vaan repeated, obviously ignorant about the judicial system of Archadia.

"Hmpf.  The self-proclaimed guardians of law and order in Archadia.  They're the elite guard of House Solidor, which effectively makes them the commanders of the Imperial Army," Balthier explained.  If you ask me, they're more executioners than judges," he added with a scowl.  "Not a friendly lot, at any rate.  What are they doing here?"

"The Emperor is willing to overlook race for his more talented servants, however, those who do not show respect will receive none in kind," the Judge told the bounty hunter.

"Your Honor-" B'Gamnan tried to interject.

"You travel freely through our land because the Emperor wills it; am I correct?" he continued, cutting the bangaa off.

He was clearly defeated.  "Bah," he growled, throwing up both of his hands and walking away from the fight he was sure that he was going to lose.

The Judge turned away from him and began to walk down the stairs.  "Where is the Captain?"

The guard was scurrying behind him.  "We have him in solitary, Your Honor.  We're ready to begin our interrogation."

When B'Gamnan growled in interest, the Judge put up a hand to silence him.  "This does not concern you, bounty hunter."  He then continued off.

The bangaa growled ferociously.  "He's in here somewhere!  Find him!"

I turned back to my companions.  "Time for the hare to follow the fox," Balthier announced.

"Huh?" Vaan said, confused about the plan that had just hatched.  I held no such confusion.

"The magicks binding the door to the oubliette are quite strong," Fran explained.  "Too strong even for my talents."

"It's a trick, see?" I said, putting my hands on Vaan's shoulders.

"That's why we'll get _them_ to open it for us," Balthier concluded happily, starting to walk off in the right direction.

"How is going deeper into this-" Vaan started.

"What's wrong?  You don't trust her?" Balthier accused.  "Vieras' noses are sharp; if she says there's a way out, there's a way out."  I grimaced again but followed him out from our hiding spot.


	3. The Captain

 "Look!" Fran said, stopping us as we ran after the guards and judge.  We returned and saw a room full of stuff.

"Ahh, the prison repository of wrested relics and raiments," Balthier said, looking around it happily.  I was already inside, sorting through the junk.

"So, our things are in there?" Vaan asked in confusion.  Kids from Lowtown probably didn't have the greatest vocabularies.

I could practically hear the eyeroll in Balthier's response.  "That's what I said."  They all walked in and we got our equipment back.

I gasped.  "Would you look at this _beautiful_  necklace?" I said, holding up a gorgeous crystal thing to the light.  It reflected rainbow speckles all over the room.  "Vaan?  Can you help me put this on?"  He came over, shrugging, and clasped the pendant around my neck.

"A little gaudy," Balthier criticized.

"Coming from Mister Rainbow Rings?  I'll be fine, thanks," I retorted playfully.  I was still a little annoyed that he had had the gall to say that to me.

"I found a map," Vaan said, holding up a decrepit piece of parchment.

"Wonderful, Vaan," Balthier said happily.  "Let's go."  We all nodded and ran after the group.  The doors were closing behind them, and our window of opportunity was closing.  We ran like our lives depended on it, which they very-well may have.  Vaan was the last out, and he almost didn't make it.

"Woah," said Balthier, as he backed up behind the wall.  Vaan tried to open the closed door, and I peaked at what had startled Balthier.  "There are more turnkeys than cut-purses down here.  I've had my fill of chains; let's tread lightly, shall we?"

He was right, too.  There were more guards than I wanted to count.  It wouldn't be easy sneaking past them.  However, we tried.  Failed, but tried.  We had to take out a couple clusters of guards, but it wasn't too much for us.  We made a pretty good team, surprisingly.  We slowed when we heard the Judge and his posse walking not far ahead of us.  Peaking around the corner, we saw the mage of the group casting a spell to open the door.  The metal of the door began to undulate and, like vines, curl away.  Leaving a good following distance, we walked through after them.  We found a good nook to hide in and wait.

The Judge took his helmet off and stood in front of a caged man.  "You have grown very thin, Basch."  Why was that name familiar?  Vaan was craning his neck to see what was going on.  "Less than a shadow, less than a man, sentenced to death, and yet you live.  Why?" he continued.

"To silence Ondore," Basch said.  "How many times must I say it?"  As in the Marquis?  I knew that I should be putting the pieces together, but politics weren't really my thing.

"Is that all?" the Judge asked.

"Why not ask Vayne himself?  Is he not one of your masters?" he replied. 

The Judge growled angrily but composed himself quickly.  "We've caught a leader of the insurgence.  She's being brought from Rabanastre.  The woman Amalia."  Both Basch and I had a momentary spark of recognition.  "Who could that be?"  Basch sighed sadly and looked down.  "Such a faithful hound to cling so to a fallen kingdom."

"Better than throwing it away," Basch countered.

The Judge replaced his helmet.  "Throwing it away?  As you threw away our homeland?"  He turned and left, the guards trailing after.  When it was clear that they were gone, we left our hiding spot and approached the pit that the man hung over.

"Who's there?" he asked.

Balthier ignored him.  "This the place?" he asked Fran as he looked down over the edge.

"The Mist is flowing through this room.  It must be going somewhere," she said, and I growled lowly without meaning to.  Luckily, no one heard me.

"Hmm," Balthier said as he looked around at a panel of switches and buttons.

"You!" Basch said pleadingly.  "You're no imperials!  Please, you must get me out-"

"It's against my policy to speak with the dead," Balthier said, cutting him off and not looking up.  "Especially when they happen to be king-slayers."  Then it all made sense; he was Captain Basch fon Ronsenburg, the man that had killed King Raminas.

"I did not kill him!" Basch protested.

"Is that so?  Huh!  Glad to hear it," Balthier said sarcastically.

"Please," he said, turning to Vaan, who had not yet said anything to the man.  "Get me out.  For the sake of Dalmasca."

Suddenly, Vaan jumped ferociously at the cage, causing it to swing back and forth.  My head was spinning just thinking about being up there.  " _Dalmasca_?" he said incredulously.  "What do you care about Dalmasca?  Everything that's happened is because of _you!_   Everyone that's died, every single one!"  His voice was thick with tears.  "Even my brother.   _You killed my brother!_ "

"Quiet," Balthier cut in coldly.  "The guards will hear."

I put a hand out and touched his back gently.  "Vaan?  Come on down, okay?"  I didn't know how to comfort him; gods, when was the last time I had to comfort anyone?

Fran heard a commotion from where the guards had gone and said, "I'm dropping it."  She kicked the switch and jumped onto the cage as it began to fall.  After nearly shitting myself, I jumped on too, holding tightly and keeping my eyes shut.

"Pirates without a sky," Balthier said sadly, as he jumped onto the top of the cage.

It was a quick but terrifying trip to the bottom, and I felt dizzy when we crashed to the bottom.  The cage had opened up, and Basch was free.  I shook off the bad feelings and jumped when Vaan attacked Basch.  He jumped on top of him and raised his fist.  However, Balthier threw him off of the Captain.  "Spare us your quiddities," Balthier said, his hands on his hips.

"Yeah, but-" Vaan protested.  "But he's a-"

"A traitor, I know," Balthier said as I walked over to Basch.  I held out a hand, which he took.  I hoisted him up to his feet; he looked so frail for someone who had once been a great warrior.  "Stay here and fight, if you want."  He turned to look at Basch.  "If you can walk, let's go."

"You're taking him with us?" Vaan asked in disbelief, pulling himself off the ground.

"We could use another sword arm," he explained.

"And you have it," Basch agreed, nodding dutifully.

"Might as well get introductions out of the way," I but in.  "I'm Karre, the angry one's Vaan, the sky pirate's Balthier, and the viera's Fran.  Welcome to the party, Basch."

Vaan again growled unhappily, but I put an arm around him and started off down the hallway.  "Come on, now.  I'd say daylight's wasting, but it's pretty dark in these tunnels.  I bet we can fix that."  Down a couple flights of stairs was a large pillar of machinery.  "Is that a generator?" I asked aloud, to no one in particular.

"Fran?" Balthier prompted, and she walked over to inspect it.

"That won't work," said a voice from the ground floor.

I peered over the edge of the railing.  Sitting on the ground was a blue bangaa with displayed wares.  "Oh!  I didn't know that anyone was down here.  Hi!  Can you help us get out?"

"I _can_  help you turn on that there generator," he said.  "The name's Burrogh."

"Wonderful!" I squealed, knowing that that was the first step.  I ran down the last sets of stairs to where he sat.  "How?"

"Try putting this in that contraption up the stairs," he said, handing me a rather makeshift device.  "Made that tube fuse from parts I found in these very tunnels.  It's good as any you'll find and better 'an most, mark my words."

I happily handed it to Vaan so that he could run it up to Fran.  "Thanks so much, Burrogh."

"Don' get many visitors down here.  I don't reckon you saw whatever caused that terrible racket just now, eh?" he asked.

I laughed.  "Well, that was kind of us," I admitted with a shrug.  "Prison break, you know?  Gotta do what you gotta do."

"Hrm.  Come crashin' down straight on the stairs?"  I nodded.  "That was the only way out!"

I shrugged.  "Sorry," I replied sheepishly.

"Guess it's time to start lookin' fer a back door outta this place.  What about you?  You plan on pokin' 'round these tunnels, best go prepared.  I piece together scraps of this, that, and the other I find into all manner of things.  It may be I have something you need," he said, gesturing to his wares.  Basch walked up and we looked around at what he had.  I could hear Balthier and Fran arguing about how to install the tube fuse.  "Usually I get the supplies I need off'n the caravans come through Nalbina.  But Barheim Passage is known to have certain items not easily come by.  I knew it weren't' safe, but... well, here I am."

The light hummed on and I smiled up at the my companions.  I looked Basch over, then turned to the wares again.  I reached up and unhooked the necklace that I'd taken from the dungeon.  "Could I trade this for that longsword?" I asked.

Borrugh shrugged.  "I suppose.  You lookin' to make a change from that lance?" he asked as he took the necklace and gave me the sword.

"Gods, no," I replied.  I handed it to Basch.  "If you're going to have my back, I want you to have it right."

"But your necklace," he said in weak protest, happy to have a weapon on hand.  The mechanics and my slave came down the stairs to stand by us.

"It's fine; it was too _gaudy_  for me anyway," I said tartly, scowling at Balthier.

"I thank you," he said.

"Now, let's get this gate open," I said, moving to the switch to my left.  I pulled the lever and the gate creaked open.

"While the lights are on, this passage ain't so bad," Burrogh started.  "But let the charge drop, and some fierce beasts start comin' out in the dark.  Openin' this gate probably took the charge down some.  Hrm, 'bout thirty percent to operate somethin' the size of these gates, I'd say.  Who knows how many more of these gates they got down there.  You look fer these switchboards, you oughta be able to make yer way."

"Thanks so much, Burrogh," I said, and walked through the gate.


	4. Barheim Passage

Not far from us stood a creature sucking up the electricity from a broken conduit.  The lights began to dim above us.  "Hey!  Who turned out the lights?  One of those?" Vaan said, pointing at the creature.

"I've heard of these," Balthier said.  "Mimics.  They disguise themselves as all manner of things, then strike when you're least wary.  Some of them have a fondness for energy, I'm told.  They gorge themselves on the stuff 'til there's naught left."

"So what happens then?" Vaan asked, looking around nervously.  Gods, this was a huge waste of time.

I threw my lance at the creature, killing it instantly.  I sauntered over to retrieve it, and the lights flickered back to life.

"Lights out, and it's worse in the dark," Balthier continued after rolling his eyes.  I shrugged it off, as I was falling a little out of love with my mysterious sky pirate.  "Much worse.  So, let them get too close to one of those conduits, and they'll suck it dry.  Don't worry; it'll give the energy back, if you ask nicely."

"Or stick it with a sword," I said, wiping the blade.  "That works, too."  I shrugged.  "Well, come on, then.  We've got a dungeon to escape."

Vaan ran up to me and nodded.  "Let's go."

"Left around that corner, I'd say," Balthier suggested.

"Let us make haste," Fran suggested.  "I do not wish to sleep in these passages."

"Eww, me either," I agreed, leading the way.  It wouldn't be a difficult journey through Barheim, but I knew that it would be long.  As we ran toward a baby mimic, I started conversationally, "So, Vaan, you're from Rabanastre.  Ever been anywhere else?  Lowtown, Giza, the Estersand, and the Westersand don't count."

He stuck the creature with his sword.  "No," he admitted.  "That's why I'm gonna be a sky pirate."

"Where do you want to go first?" I asked with a shrug.  "I've probably been there; I can give you a few pointers."  I laughed.

"I don't know," he said with a shrug.  "Anywhere, I guess."

I laughed again.  "I suppose that's the right answer, if you want to be a sky pirate.  Balthier, you're from Archadia, no doubt.  Did you live in the capital?"

He looked surprised.  "What makes you say that I'm from Archadia?"

I rolled my eyes.  "It's not very difficult," I said, donning the tell-tale Archadian accent.  "I lived in Archades for a time not too long ago.  I got out fast.  Come to think of it, there aren't many places that I haven't lived.  I lived in Rabanastre, too.  That was my first real home."  I smiled in reminiscence.  "But I've lived in Archades, the upper city of course; Rozarria with a nobleman; and in Landis for a _very_ short time."

"Landis was my home," Basch interjected.

"Really?  Imagine that.  I lived on the coast; what a beautiful view!  The best shoreline I have ever beheld, without a doubt."

Basch smiled weakly.  "I must agree."

The lights dimmed faintly, and we looked around worriedly.  Where was the mimic?  Basch found it first, apparently, because he was suddenly lunged through a doorway and decimated it.  It was very impressive.

"Nice moves there, Captain," Balthier commended.

"You mean 'Traitor,'" Vaan said, still angry.

"So they say," Balthier corrected, one eyebrow raised.  "But I didn't see him kill anyone."

"My brother did," Vaan growled, and Basch gasped.

"Reks," he said, remembering a night long ago.  So that's what had happened.  "He said he had a brother two years younger.  I see; he meant you."  He paused.  "Your brother, what became-"

"He's dead," Vaan answered through clenched teeth.

Basch looked down, ashamed.  "I'm sorry."

"It was you who killed him!" Vaan yelled back.

Basch looked back at him sadly.  "I give you my word; that was not the way of it."  He went on to tell us his story, the story of that night. His battalion had been present but sensed the imminent danger.  Who was to say that King Raminas would be safe after signing away his country?  They realized too late, however.  Basch's twin brother, Noah, disguised himself as Basch and killed the king.  It was the Judge that had been talking to the Captain in his cage.  Archadia needed a scapegoat, and Basch was the perfect target.

I burst out laughing.  I couldn't help it; that was too funny.  "Okay, okay," I managed, trying to get myself under control.  "You just told us that you have an 'evil twin.'  That's like the oldest excuse in the book!"

"But my story is true," he protested.

"And I wouldn't have believed a word of it had I not seen you two together," I said, shaking my head.

"I don't believe you," Vaan said, his back turned on Basch.

"Of course not," he replied sadly.  "It was my fault that Reks was there.  I _am_ sorry."

"My brother - he trusted you," Vaan continued.  I felt so bad for him, so I went over and put a hand on his shoulder.  I didn't know if there was anything to say, so I kept quiet.  "He trusted you, and he lost everything.  How can I believe you?"

"Not me then," Basch said.  "Believe in your brother.  He was a fine soldier.  He fought to the last to protect his homeland; no, surely he fought to protect his brother."

Vaan whirled on him.  "You don't know anything!"

Balthier stepped in, impatient.  "Believe what you want to, whatever it takes to make you happy.  What's done is done," he said to Basch.  "Let's go; we're almost in the clear."  He turned his back and walked on, through more tunnels.  I was pretty fed up with Barheim.

Vaan and Fran followed, but I lagged behind with Basch.  He looked at me.  "You said that you believe my story?"

I nodded with a smile.  "Something _that_ ridiculous has to be true," I replied with a laugh.  "In any case, you're a good soldier, and I don't think we can afford to lose you yet."

He smiled modestly at the praise.  "What are your plans when we return to Rabanastre?" he asked.  It wasn't an assuming, preceding an invitation question.  He just wanted to know.

I thought for a moment, looking to Vaan, who was fighting a couple of mimics in front of us with Fran and Balthier.  "I'll probably restock, rest a little, then travel somewhere else.  I don't like staying in Rabanstre for too long." I paused for a little too long before asking, "What about you, traitor to the country?"

He sighed, knowing that his journey would not be and easy one.  "I shall meet back up with the Resistance and plead my case.  I doubt that my words will have much weight, but I shall try."

I put a hand on his shoulder.  "If you need a voucher, just come find me.  I doubt that _my_ words will have much weight, though."

We laughed a little, and I was amazed to say that I liked this man, too.  I would be sad to leave him when we arrived in Rabanastre.  "I thank you, Karre."

"If you two are quite finished chatting and being of no physical use," Balthier said with abundant amounts of sass, "we'd like to get out of here.  Come on, we think this is the way out."

Basch and I looked at each other sheepishly then followed our friends through a doorway.  Inside was not the outdoors, however.  We walked right into the Queen Mimic's nest.  It was a long and arduous fight, with so many baby mimics crawling around like insects.  When we had finally defeated her, the cavern collapsed and we had to run for the exit.  I dare say that Basch was our greatest asset in that fight.

The night air of the Estersand felt clean and pure, just as it should.  "To think," Basch said, "Dalmascan air could taste so sweet."

"Where are we?" Vaan asked, the surrounding unfamiliar to him.  I realized just how little of the world he had seen, even though the Estersand was right on Rabanastre's doorstep.

"Estersand, by the look of it," Balthier said.

"Definitely the Estersand," I confirmed.  "I've seen this archway before, I just never had need to enter."

"We ought to make camp for the night.  Get a fresh start in the morning," Balthier suggested.  "Over by the river would be ideal."

When we had built a little fire and laid out sleeping mats, I looked to my companions.  Everyone was a little cut up and bruised, but it looked like Vaan had broken his arm.  I walked over and cast a healing spell on it.  My skill in magicks definitely lied in white and time magicks, not black magicks.  "Thanks," he said through clenched teeth.  I supposed that was a mix of the still-present pain in his arm and a feeling of betrayal.

I didn't really know what to say, so I got up and announced, "I'm going to go wash up."

"I'll get us something to eat," Fran announced, grabbing her bow and quiver.

I nodded and walked over to the river.  Stripping down to just undergarments, I made a neat pile of everything that I took off.  The water was warm, just as you'd expect from a river oasis.  I thought about my companions on the beach behind me, glancing over my shoulder.  Vaan looked grumpy, Balthier looked relaxed, and Basch looked introspective.  I punched the rock beside me with full force.  I heard startled exclamations from the camp, as the impact had resonated.  Why couldn't I just be normal and know how to make friends like a normal person?  Balthier was fed-up with me, Fran didn't let on much at all of what she was thinking, Vaan hated me for taking sides, and Basch was so full of duty that he'd never look at me as a friend.  No one was more surprised than I was that I liked these people.  Yet, I couldn't do a thing to let them know; I didn't know how.

I didn't waste much more time in the water because my hand was bleeding.  My clothes in my hand, I walked back to the campfire.  "Karre, what happened?" Vaan asked, and I thought I could hear genuine concern in his voice.

I looked at my hand as I put my clothes into my satchel and got out what I usually slept in.  "It isn't a big deal," I said quickly.  What was I doing?  He was concerned for me!  Why couldn't I be like someone normal and act like I felt inside?

"Can't you cast a healing spell?" Vaan asked, still concerned.  "It looks like something's broken."

He was right.  I hadn't noticed right away because all of my knuckles were bloody anyway, and I'd made a habit out of ignoring pain.  I sighed in resignation.  I cast the spell and heard Vaan breathe a sigh of relief.  I slipped into my pajamas as Fran returned with some game. She started to get it ready, and Vaan asked, "So, Balthier, what are you doing when you get back to Rabanastre?"

He sighed.  "Restock, refuel, and hit the skies," he explained.

"What about you, Karre?" he asked, apparently trying hard to get over the bump in our relationship.

"Much of the same, I'm sure.  I won't be 'hitting the skies,' but I'll be off for another place, another treasure," I said.  He looked a little sad. "What about you?"

He looked down into the fire.  "I don't know," he admitted.

"Well, I know I'm no sky pirate, but I _do_ get around."  He looked up, unsure if he was understanding.  "Plus, you _do_ owe me for that stone.  I guess I could factor you into my plans.  You know, if you wanted."

His eyes lit up.  "Yeah!"

"It is ready," Fran announced, handing out slabs of meat.


	5. Back in Rabanastre

It was my shift to stand guard when the sun rose.   _Well, now's as good a time as any to start the day_ , I thought when it had risen completely over the  horizon.  "Up and at 'em, guys," I said as loudly as I thought I needed to.  "We'd better be off before it gets too hot."

There was a bit of grumbling and groaning, mostly from Vaan, but we managed to mobilize fairly quickly.  The way back to Rabanastre was fairly straight and easy.  The beasts that roamed the dunes were just as eager to be done with us as we were to be done with them.  There was little conversation, and that suited me just fine.  I didn't want to get too attached to Balthier and Fran and Basch because I knew that I'd never see them again.  There was a little chatter between me and Vaan, and that suited me too.  If we were going to travel around together, then we might as well get to know each other.  I felt myself falling into a rhythm of easy conversation.  It wasn't so hard to talk to him like any normal person would.

We reached the East Gate of Rabanastre in good time.  We stood and looked up at it and then at each other.  Basch was the first to speak.  "I thank you."

"I'd avoid crowds if I were you," Balthier suggested.  "In this town, you're still a traitor, you know."

Basch nodded.  "The Resistance will surely find me soon."  He turned to Vaan.  "Fates will we meet again.  I would pay my respects to your brother."  He nodded to us, we nodded back, and he turned and left.

Balthier turned to Vaan.  "You're a fugitive, too.  Stay low for a while."

I put a hand on the kid's shoulder.  "I'll look after him," I said with a devilish grin, knowing that he was in for a good deal of trouble by coming with me.

Balthier nodded, and he and his viera turned to walk away.  "What about the stone?" Vaan asked, stopping them in their tracks.

"Do as you like," Balthier replied disinterestedly.  "That stone's ill-favored."

"We feel regret," Fran chimed in.  "We sought that stone and found ourselves only worry."

"You offering it?" Balthier asked, making sure.

"It's mine," Vaan replied with conviction.

"Then why do you ask?  Our regards to your girl."  The sky pirate started off into the city.

"We stay in Rabanastre a while," Fran added before following him away.  We watched them for a good while.

"Can I trust Basch?" Vaan said, mostly to himself.  I knew that I shouldn't answer, for my answer wouldn't mean anything to him, so I kept quiet.  He looked down at the stone.  "I gotta get rid of this thing.  But maybe I should show it to Penelo first, so she knows I got something.  She'd be at Migelo's place this time of day."

I nodded.  "You can go do that," I agreed.  "I have some things in the city to take care of.  Meet me in the Sandsea when you're done, okay?"

"Okay," he agreed, and he went off through the city, and I stopped by the Moogling.  I headed to the Muthru Bazaar, seeing as it was the closest to my intended destination.  It didn't take me long to get back.  To my _home_.  I looked around around at the orderly furniture.  There was barely a speck of dust, and it felt eerie.  Sterile.  Like something that once held life but had been dead for a long time.

Which is what it was.  I hadn't even stayed the night since... since the war.  I grabbed a couple of provisions, stored a few things I'd picked up on our travels, and headed back out the door as quickly as possible.  It made my chest ache to be in there.

"Might as well head over to the Sandsea," I said to myself, realizing that I had way less to do than I had originally thought.  I shrugged and headed out.

As I passed the Guild Headquarters, one of the guards called out a greeting to me.  I waved back but kept on walking.  Maybe I'd be able to knock down some more hunts with Vaan.  Two blades are better than one.  We'd have to train, though.  Sure, he was pretty good for a beginner, but he was still a beginner.  I needed someone who would always have my back and who I could always count on in a fight.  I thought fleetingly of how good it would be to still have Basch, Balthier, and Fran by my side, but I pushed that thought away.  I didn't need that bringing me down.

The Sandsea was, as always, bustling with activity.  Very few people turned to look at me, and those that did turned quickly away.  I headed over to the notice board and checked out the available hunts, grabbing the extra sheets of paper and tucking them away.

"Why, if it isn't my favorite viera," a voice from behind me said.

"Tomaj," I replied, smiling generously at my old acquaintance.  "How have you been?"

"Very busy," said the owner of the Sandsea.  He walked over and looked at the board with me.  "Anything I can get you?" he asked with a smirk very fitting of his character.  "Some of my strongest wine?  Maybe a good bottle of spirits?"

I rolled my eyes.  I knew that I would never be Tomaj's favorite customer, as I did not drink.  At all.  Alcohol of any sort.  It didn't sit well with me ever.  "I'll have a water, if that's okay with you," I replied.  He laughed and nodded, motioning for me to follow him to the bar.  It then occurred to me to ask him something.  "Hey, Tomaj?"

"Yes, Karre?" he replied, getting me a glass.

"Do you happen to know a kid named Vaan?"

He raised an eyebrow at me as I paid him for the water.  "Yes," he said tentatively.  "Why do you ask?"

I laughed a little.  "I'm sure no reason that you're thinking.  I'm taking him with me when I leave Rabanastre.  We're going to see far off places."  I spread my hands to indicate the magical properties these excursions would have.

He laughed in surprise.  "Really?  How did that come about?"

I waved a hand nonchalantly.  "You get really close to people that you break out of prison with."  I shrugged as I saw the smile on Tomaj's face.  "You know how it is."

"I'm sure that I don't," he replied with a light-hearted shake of the head.  "Now, enjoy your water.  I have some other customers to attend to."

"Thank you, Tomaj," I said as I walked up the stairs.  I groaned when I saw Fran and Balthier sitting at a table very close to the one that I had been intent on.  I was now too far up the stairs to turn around without it being a big deal.  I sighed and resigned myself to continuing on my intended path.

"Karre, what a surprise!" Balthier said, waving to me.  I could hear the condescension and sass in his voice very clearly.

"Hello, Balthier.  Fran."  I sat down and tried to mind my own business.

"Where's your new slave?" Balthier continued.

I sighed and turned to him, unamused.  I didn't want to like these two.  I wanted to be rid of them without any attachment on my part.  "We each had some things to take care of."

Balthier wasn't able to respond because a older, blue bangaa came barreling up the stairs.  "Balthier!  I have words for you!"

"Can I help you?" he replied coolly, presumably used to accusations like this.

"Penelo's gone, and it's your fault!"  This must be Migelo, the keeper of the shop that Vaan and Penelo work at.

"I'm sorry?" Balthier asked, unsure if he'd heard correctly.  He didn't seem terribly concerned, but he was definitely interested.

"Someone took Penelo because of you!  They left a note!"  He threw a piece of paper on the table.

"I'm sure this is a misunderstanding," Balthier said casually, picking up the note and unfolding it.

"You better do something about this!  She's gone, and you're responsible!"

"As I said," Balthier repeated, getting frustrated, "A misunderstanding."

Vaan was walking up the stairs with Basch behind him.  "Misunderstanding?  What I am understanding is that they took Penelo because of you!" Migelo continued.  I couldn't blame him for being upset if it was indeed because of Balthier.  I guess I'd have to see the note to pass full judgement.

"What?" Vaan said, sounding like a small, lost child.  "What about Penelo?"  There was anger in his voice and eyes.  I stood next to him and put a hand on his shoulder.

"Oh, Vaan!  They've taken Penelo!" Migelo responded.  "And there was a note: a note for this Balthier.  'Come to the Bhujerba Mines' it said."

"It's Ba'Gamnan," Fran interjected, putting the note down.  "He was in Nalbina."

"If anything were to happen to that sweet child-" Migelo began.  "Why, I have her parents' memory to consider,  You're going to her aid, and that's that!  It's what you sky pirates do, isn't it?"

"I don't respond well to orders," Balthier said through clenched teeth, straightening up.

I sighed.  "We're going.  Regardless of how well you take orders.

"You do know that the Imperial Fleet is massing at Bhujerba?" Balthier said, trying to convince everyone else that this was a bad idea or a waste of time.

"Fine, then I'll go!" Vaan said with resolve.  "You at least have an airship, don't you?  Just get me there, and I'll find Penelo myself!"

"Not yourself," I corrected him, and he nodded to me.

"I'll join you," Basch added.  "I have some business there as well."

"An audience with the Marquis, by chance?" Balthier asked with a raised brow.

There was a long moment of tense silence as Balthier and Basch stared at each other.  "Balthier," Vaan said, breaking it.  "Just take us, and this is yours!"  He held out the stone that we had worked so hard to retrieve.

"The gods are toying with us," Fran said, rolling her eyes.

The sky pirate sighed dramatically.  "Make yourselves ready.  We leave soon."

"Right!" Vaan said enthusiastically.

I groaned inwardly, thinking both of our destination and the trip there.


	6. The Skycity of Bhujerba

"Woah," Vaan breathed as Balthier's airship came into view.  
  
"This is The Strahl," Balthier announced.  As far as airships went, she was impressive.  I mean, airships weren't really my thing, but I knew that she was a big deal.  "She airship enough for you?"  
  
Vaan pushed through us, trying to get a better look at the ship.  "The Strahl...  You really are a sky pirate!"  
  
I snorted.  "Well, the headhunters seem to think so," Balthier replied.  A group of moogle mechanics came out of the ship.  "What's the word?  Is the ready?"  
  
The squeaked in affirmation, and we started to board.  "So, is she armed?  How fast is she?  Could she take The Ifrit?"  
  
Balthier reached the top of the stairs and turned around.  "I suppose I could tell you, but...  wouldn't you rather see for yourself?"  He flashed a devilish grin.  
  
Vaan ran in.  I moved wearily into the cockpit.  My heart was already pounding, and I felt queasy.  I buckled myself in quickly.  
  
"Fran, our course," Balthier said as each took a pilot chair.  
  
"The quickest way's over Dorstonis," she said, fiddling with some controls.  
  
"How flies Bhujerba?" Basch asked.  
  
"Oh, she's free as can be," Balthier replied.  "For now.  The empire took notice when they announced the Princess's suicide and your untimely execution."  
  
"If it becomes known that I am alive, the Marquis will lose their favor," Basch added.  
  
"I try to steer clear of such things," Balthier said, and I almost laughed.  He hit a few final buttons and announced, "Right, it's time to fly.  And no wagging tongues or you're like to bite them off."  
  
I shut my eyes tightly as the engines roared and we lifted off the ground.  I tried to forget that I was soaring thousands of feet from the ground.  But I couldn't.  
  
"Karre?" Vaan asked after a while.  I slowly opened my eyes and realized we'd already landed.  
  
Balthier snorted.  "Afraid of flying, are you?"  
  
I snarled at him.  "I don't like heights, okay?  Shut your bitch mouth."  
  
He shrugged.  "Not exactly sky pirate material, are you?"  
  
"Not exactly," I agreed with a grimace, and got out of my chair.  I felt a little queasy and took a moment to collect myself.  "Let's just g-"  
  
There was a crash from elsewhere in the ship.  We raced off to the source of the noise, a small supply closet.  We exchanged puzzled looks as we heard squawking from inside.  That would have been weird enough, but it sounded as if it came from a person instead of an animal.  Balthier cautiously pulled open the door.  
  
Inside was a woman, blonde, older than Balthier but younger than Basch, sitting on the floor.  She had a bottle in her hand, and she was acting as if she was having a very important conversation with a cockatrice that wasn't actually there.  I went in and knelt in front of her, smelling the strong aroma of alcohol.  I think it took her a minute to actually see me, but eventually she pointed at me.  "Sqwack."  
  
I turned to my travelling companions and said, "What?" as she flopped onto her back, still chatting away.  
  
"Do I know her?" Basch muttered to himself.  
  
It caught the woman's attention though, and she whirled to stare at him.  She pulled herself up and launched at him, throwing punches.  Basch was able to dodge the messy fighting, but he held back, unwilling to hurt her.  "How dare you!" she yelled.  
  
Fran was the first of us to be able to move.  She got between them and pulled the woman away from the captain.  "I suggest you calm yourself."  
  
"You betrayed me!" she yelled again, and I thought I could see water in her eyes.  She caught herself.  " _Us_.  You betrayed _us_."  
  
A look of sad recognition came to Basch's face.  "Maeve," he said softly.  
  
She spat at him and broke past Fran.  
  
"Please, you must believe that it was not I who betrayed the king," he continued, extending a gentle hand in vain.  "I was framed by my twin brother."  
  
She looked like she was going to attack him again, so I stepped in.  "Hey, did you know Reks?" I asked quickly.  
  
"You killed him," she snarled at Basch.  
  
I grabbed Vaan by the vest and pulled him over.  "This is his brother, Vaan.  Vaan was skeptical, too, right?  But now you trust Basch?  You believe him?"  
  
"Reks trusted Basch, and I do too," he said reassuringly.  She seemed almost convinced.  
  
"Come on; we're heading into the Lhusu mines.  Spend some time with us, and maybe you'll come around."  It was clear that Basch knew her once; I wasn't worried about having her around.  It might have even been better than leaving her alone.  
  
"Psh, no way.  I'm not drunk enough for that," she said.  Balthier and I looked at each other.  He shrugged, and she pushed through us.  
  
Basch tried to explain.  "She fought with me during the war.  She was there the night that the king was murdered."  He paused.  "She was never like that."  
  
Balthier scoffed.  "A drunk?"  He sighed.  "I'm going to have to have a chat with our mechanics about airship security."  
  
"Come on.  Penelo's waiting," Vaan said after a pause.  He walked passed us.  
  
The rest of us followed, still a little uneasy about our meeting with Maeve.  As we walked into the lobby of the aerodome, a group of imperial soldiers came running through.  The appeared to be looking for something or someone.  
  
"Easy," Balthier said quietly to the captain.  
  
"No good," one of the soldiers said.  "He's not here."  
  
"Keep searching," another one ordered.  
  
"This way," one said as the ran off again.  
  
"You're a dead man," Balthier continued.  "Don't forget it.  And no names."  
  
"Of course," Basch agreed, and we all walked toward the exit.  
  
Not two steps out of the aerodome, I dropped to my knees.  "Karre?" Vaan asked, concerned.  
  
I laughed mirthlessly.  "It had to be Bhujerba, didn't it?  Couldn't have picked a groundcity.  It had to be a skycity."  
  
Balthier walked over and held out a hand to me.  "Come on," he said, and he spoke gently instead of the arrogant bluntness I was getting used to.  
  
"Why?" I asked, taking his hand anyway.  
  
He gave me a familiar grin and pulled me to my feet.  He put an arm around me and led me slowly to the railing of the bridge that connected the aerodome to the rest of Bhujerba.  My breathing was as fast as my heartbeat.  "Come now, Karre.  You know what they say about skycities."  
  
"What?" I asked weakly.  
  
"Even if you fall, you won't die."  
  
I laughed far too loudly.  "What a comfort," I said sarcastically.  
  
We stood for a moment, neither of us speaking or moving.  We looked out into the clouds.  When I looked at his face, I saw that he had an easy grin and a far-off stare.  He caught me looking at him and raised his eyebrows.  My face flushed, and I backed away from him.  My breathing had slowed, but my heartbeat was still up.  "I'm ready.  Let's get this over with."  
  
"The Lhusu Mines are just up ahead," Balthier said.  "Though, I do hear there's not much left there these days."  
  
"You're on your way to the mines?" came a prepubescent voice from the side of the bridge.  We looked over to see a small boy in fancy dress hanging on the railing.  He hopped down and walked toward us, followed by a Bhujerban woman dressed a little like a pirate.  "Then please, allow us to accompany you.  We've an errand to attend to there."  
  
"What manner of errand?" Basch asked.  Aside from rescuing kidnapped girls, I wasn't sure what people would do in the mines either.  
  
"What errand?  I might ask the same of you," he replied, proving he might be a little sassafrass.  
  
There was a pause as Balthier measured the pair up.  "Right.  Come on then."  
  
"What?" Vaan said.  
  
"Excellent," the boy said, and the woman smiled.  
  
"Do me a favor and stay where I can keep my eye on you," Balthier instructed.  "Should be less trouble that way."  
  
"For us both," he agreed with a bit humor in his voice.  
  
"So, what are your names?" Vaan asked.  
  
"Oh, I- uhh," the boy stuttered.  "I'm Lamont.  And this..."  
  
"Aelia," the woman said, her Bhujerban accent apparent but not obtrusive.  
  
Vaan put a hand on Lamont's shoulder.  "Don't worry.  I don't know what's in that mine, Lamont, but you're in good hands.  Right, Basch?"  
  
We all stared silently at Vaan, who had agreed not long ago at all not to use any names.  He realized his mistake and looked like he was desperately trying to think of a way out of it.  
  
I snorted and grabbed him by the vest.  "Come on, you idiot," I said, pulling him toward the mines.  "Let's go before you fuck anything else up."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Maeve belongs to xMayfly on deviantart!


	7. The Lhusu Mines

"It was an accident!" Vaan pleaded.  
  
I continued to pull him forward.  "What did we say in the aerodome?"  
  
"Karre, I-"  
  
"What did we say?" I repeated, taking no shit.  
  
He sighed sadly.  "No names."  
  
"Exactly.  No names.  What did you do?  You used names, and out of all of the names you could have picked, you picked the _worst_  name to use."  
  
"I know.  I'm sorry," he said quickly, and he sounded like he meant it.  
  
"Look, I don't know if we can keep you.  You'll definitely never be a sky pirate if you can't follow a simple, no-brainer like _not using names_ ," I continued.  I yanked him forward and let go of his vest.  "No, think about what you've done and whether or not you can follow directions."  
  
He nodded, a spark of fear in his eyes, and walked ahead.  
  
I fell back and walked beside Basch.  We happened to be passing the pub, the Cloudborne.  He let out a sigh as we passed it.  "Hey, stop it," I said, punching him in the arm.  
  
He turned to me, startled.  "What?"  
  
"Did you kill the king?"  
  
He seemed confused, as we both already knew the answer to this.  "No.  I-"  
  
"Then whatever is going on with her isn't your fault," I told him.  
  
He didn't seem convinced.  
  
"Tell me about her," I suggested, thinking maybe that would help him out of his rut.  
  
"In truth, I don't know her well at all," he admitted.  "She followed orders and fought well, but I never took the time to ask about who she was."  
  
This struck me as odd, as it had seemed to me like there was a whole lot of history between the two.  "It'll work out," I said, but I think we both recognized the insincerity in my voice.  He nodded and turned away from me, still deep in thoughts of the past.  
  
"I want to thank you again for helping me," Lamont said to Aelia.  
  
"Of course, my little lord," she replied with a kind smile.  There was something largely maternal in the way she put her hand on his shoulder.  
  
"And I wanted to apologize again for-"  
  
"There is no need," she said, cutting him off.  "Nannying comes with an expiration date.  I knew that day would come the moment I took the job."  She squeezed him.  "And I would do it all again."  He smiled warmly up at her.  "Anyway, I'm glad you came to see me.  I missed you."  
  
He chuckled.  "Of course.  It's not every day I'm in Bhujerba."  
  
"More often in Archades, I should think," I chimed in.  
  
He looked at me, a little started.  "Why do you say that?"  
  
I pointed up at my ears.  "They're not just for decoration.  I've got an ear for accents."  
  
"Have you been?" Aelia asked.  
  
I nodded.  "Not exactly my favorite city.  Any place known for gossip is somewhere I try to steer clear of."  
  
Balthier _humphed_ in surprise.  "So you really _have_  been there."  
  
I scoffed.  "Did you think I lied?"  
  
"Is that so unbelievable?"  
  
I narrowed my eyes at him, and he raised an eyebrow.  "That's fair, I guess.  No, I really _have_  been there.  I was on a job."  I looked down and took a ring off of my middle finger.  I held it up to the light so the purity of the jewels could be admired.  "I think you could buy a small airship with this."  
  
Almost every eye was on it then.  "Is that so?" Balthier said, coming closer.  
  
I put it back on quickly and rolled my eyes.  "You already have an airship.  Hands off."  
  
He raised an eyebrow as a challenge.  I stuck my tongue out at him.  
  
"I could use an airship," Vaan said excitedly, turning around.  
  
" _You_ are still in a time-out, mister," I said sternly, pointing at him.  "I didn't forget."  He gave me an incredulous look.  
  
Lamont chuckled, and Vaan turned back around dejectedly.  We didn't have much farther to walk before we were at our destination.  
  
"The Lhusu Mines: one of the richest veins in Ivalice," Balthier said was they came into view.  
  
"Under Imperial Guard, no doubt," Basch remarked unhappily.  
  
"Actually, no," Lamont piped up.  "With but few exceptions, the Imperial Army is not permitted within Bhujerba.  Well, shall we proceed?"  
  
I chortled.  "What a little fountain of information," I said.  Aelia shrugged and followed the boy into the mines.  We were not a few steps in when we saw a group coming around a corner.  We all hid behind columns.  
  
"You will forgive me for asking, but you are diverting the purest of the magicite-" the Judge began.  He was walking with some soldiers, two Rev, and who I assumed was Ondore.  
  
"I can assure you it reaches Lord Vayne most discreetly," Ondore replied.  
  
"Ha!"  The Judge turned at looked at him.  "You wear your saddle well."  
  
"Be that as it may, I have no intention of being bridled, your honor."  
  
"Then you prefer the whip?  Stubbornness will see not only you broken, Excellency, but Bhujerba."  
  
Ondore didn't seem particularly worried about that, and the company walked off.  
  
"Halim Ondore IV, the Marquis of Bhujerba," Lamont announced as we stepped out from our hiding places.  "The Marquis served as mediator at the negotiations of Dalmasca's surrender.  It would appear that he is somewhat less neutral now."  
  
Balthier stepped forward.  "They say he's been helping the resistance."  
  
Lamont sighed and shook his head.  "They say many things."  
  
Balthier's eyes narrowed.  "You're certainly well informed.  Who did you say you were again?"  
  
"What difference does it make?" Vaan asked before Lamont was forced to answer.  "We have to find Penelo."  
  
"And Penelo is your-" the boy began to ask.  
  
"She's a friend," he said, not picking up on Lamont's unasked question.  "She was kidnapped and taken here."  With that, he ran off dramatically.  
  
I laughed and leaned down to just about eye-level with the boy.  "Just a friend," I repeated with a wink.  The boy laughed, and we followed Vaan deeper into the mines.  
  
We traveled quietly through the mines, fighting the beasts that made their homes there without much chatter.  I was surprised at how well Aelia handled herself, as I hadn't expected much from a nanny.  There were a couple bridges that I found quite unsettling, but Balthier was surprisingly willing to support me on our journey across them.  I was beginning to think that perhaps there was more to this sky pirate than greed and arrogance.  Not that either of those things particularly bothered me.  
  
We at last came upon a large cavern filled with magicite.  Lamont knelt down and examined a vein in the floor.  "This is what I came here to see."  He took out a blue stone and held it close to the ground.  
  
"What's that?" Vaan asked.  
  
"It's nethicite," he replied.  "Manufactured nethicite."  
  
"Nethicite?" Vaan repeated.  
  
"Unlike regular magicite, nethicite absorbs magickal energy," he explained.  "This is the fruit of research into the manufacture of nethicite.  All at the hands of the Draklor Laboratory."  I noticed a flash of something pass on Balthier's face at the mention of this, but I wasn't sure why.  Lamont stood and trotted over to the wall of the cavern.  "So this _is_  where they're getting the magicite."  
  
"Errand all attended to, then?" Balthier asked.  
  
"Thank you," he said.  "I'll repay you shortly."  
  
"No, you'll repay us now," he insisted, walking toward him.  "We have too much on our hands to go on holding yours.  So, where did you hear this fairy tale about 'nethicite'?  And where did you get that sample you carry?  What do you know about the Draklor Laboratories?"  Balthier was right on top of the boy now, and I sensed Aelia's discomfort.  Lamont tried to move out from between the sky pirate and the rock, but Balthier put a hand up to stop him.  "Tell me; who are you?"  
  
Vaan was the first to intervene.  "Balthier-"  
  
"You kept us waiting, Balthier," came a familiar voice from behind us.


	8. Nobody Knows Men Like Fran Does

"You slipped away in Nalbina," Ba'Gamnan said, three other unfriendly bangaa with him.  "We missed you.  First the Judge, and now this boy.  The whole affair has the smell of money.  I may have to wet my beak a little."  
  
"Keep your snout in the trough where it belongs," Balthier retorted.  "This thinking ill befits you, Ba'Gamnan."  
  
"Balthier!"  The bounty hunter laughed wryly.  "Too long have I gone unpaid!  I'll carve my bounty out of that boy!"  
  
"Where's Penelo?" Vaan asked, stepping forward.  "We're taking her back!"  
  
"The girl?  Why keep the bait when you've landed the fish?  We cut her loose on the way here and then off she ran, crying like a babe!"  
  
Suddenly, Lamont threw the piece of nethicite and hit Ba'Gamnan straight in the eye.  While he was caught off-guard, the boy ran forward, slid under the bangaa, grabbed the nethicite, and ran off.  The rest of us followed suit, Balthier pushing Ba'Gamnan on his way by.  
  
"After them!" he snarled.  
  
"We'll not be able to take them all!" Balthier called.  "Fight who we must, leave the rest."  
  
It wasn't too bad, and the quick Ardor over my shoulder was easy enough to handle.  We were slowly putting distance between us.  
  
"Is that-" Basch said, seeing something up ahead of us.  
  
It was.  Maeve was wandering around the mines, looking for something.  Presumably Basch.  She saw us and raised her finger, ready to give a speech.  "You!  I-"  
  
"Another time!" the captain yelled, cutting her off.  
  
"What?"  
  
I grabbed her arm and pulled her forward, away from the approaching bangaa.  "Run!"  
  
I was impressed at how well she responded.  It only took her a few moments to realize the gist of what was going on.  She even got in a few hits with her greataxe.  
  
When we reached the beginning of the cart tracks, we slowed.  The sound of pursuing footsteps was nonexistent.  "It would not seem they follow.  We've lost them," Fran announced.  
  
"Much more running about with bangaa at my heels and I'm apt to give up sky pirating altogether," Balthier said, adjusting his sleeves.  
  
We continued our journey to the exit at a more leisurely pace.  Maeve looked at Lamont.  "Who's this little girl?"  
  
"Excuse me," he said indignantly.  
  
"That's Lamont," I cut in hastily.  " _He_  wanted to see the magicite."  
  
"What are you doing back here?" Vaan asked.  
  
She poked Basch aggressively.  "I'm here to keep an eye on _you_."  
  
"I welcome your company," he said sincerely.  "I pray that some day you may forgive me for the pain I have caused you."  
  
There was a very real flash of emotion that overcame the drunk.  She very forcibly repressed it.  "Yeah.  And if I can't, you're gonna be sorry."  
  
"Come on," Vaan urged impatiently.  "We have to get Penelo."  
  
"Penelo's turning out to be a real pain in my ass," I said under my breath, and Balthier laughed.  
  
As we approached the exit of the mines, we noticed a group standing outside and hid ourselves.  It was the same group we had seen earlier, just without the Rej and plus a young blonde girl.  Lamont turned to Aelia, and she kissed him on the forehead.  She nodded, and the boy walked toward the group.  
  
My hearing, though duller than it ought to be, was strong enough to pick up the conversation.  
  
"I see you've been out walking without the company of your cortege, Lord Larsa," the Judge said, and I let out a small gasp.  I mean, I knew he'd been lying about who he was, but I never suspected his true identity.  He looked at who I assumed was Penelo.  "We caught her wandering out of the mines.  You must take care with such undesirables about."  
  
"I was kidnapped-" she began.  
  
"Silence!"  
  
"If it is a crime to wander on one's own, then I too am guilty," Larsa said, getting between the two.  "Marquis.  I trust that your estate can accommodate another guest?"  
  
The older man shrugged.  "Why not?"  
  
"Judge Ghis, I shall heed your counsel," Larsa continued.  He took Penelo by the arm.  "I will not travel unaccompanied any longer.  
  
"That was unexpected," Ghis said as the two walked away.  The rest of the group followed.  
  
"What's Penelo doing?" Vaan asked.  "And what's the deal with that Lamont?"  
  
I laughed and shook my head.  "That's no 'Lamont,'" Balthier said.  "Isn't that right, Aelia?"  
  
The Bhujerban blushed and nodded.  "No."  
  
"Larsa Ferrinas Solidor.  Fourth son to Emperor Gramis and brother to Vayne."  
  
"What?" Vaan said in disbelief.  "That kid?!"  
  
"Do not worry," Fran said.  "I believe he will treat her well."  
  
"Nobody knows men like Fran does," Balthier added cheekily.  He and Fran exchanged amused looks, Maeve snorted, and my face was set ablaze.  
  
"This is correct," Aelia agreed.  "I have known Larsa since he was very young.  He is good and selfless.  He would make an excellent leader, but he would not take power that is not rightfully his."  
  
"Our purposes lead the same way: to Ondore," Basch announced, exiting the mines.  "We must find means to approach him."  
  
"The Marquis is channeling money to organizations opposing the Empire," Balthier explained.  "We'll start there."  
  
Basch stopped.  "Marquis Ondore announced my execution two years ago.  If news of my survival were to spread, the Marquis may find his position compromised."  
  
"The men he's been funding bear little love for the Empire.  They won't be thrilled to discover that rumors of your death were, in fact, greatly exaggerated," Balthier agreed.  "If we were to raise a clamor to that effect, we might just get their attention."  
  
"Nothing to it!" Vaan said happily.  "I'll just go around town spreading the word.  How 'bout this?"  He stood up on the ledge of the waterway beside us.  "I'm Captain Basch fon Ronsenburg of Dalmasca!"  I cringed as everyone around that heard it looked over.  "Well?  Whaddaya think?"  
  
"That certainly qualifies as a clamor," Balthier said with a sigh.  "All right, Vaan, get to it.  For the girl's sake, eh?  Oh, and the more people around to witness your performance, the better.  If we're going to reach the Marquis, it's up to you.  We'll be waiting here, if you need us."  
  
And with that, he ran off.  We turned to the ex-nanny.  She sighed.  "Please, allow me to stay with you.  I hold no love for the Empire; if you are working to right things in that regard, I would be more than happy to assist you."  
  
Balthier looked her over then shrugged.  "I won't stop you."  
  
"I thank you."  
  
We all sat around, waiting.  Aelia and I sat where Vaan had made his clamor and watched as Maeve walked up to Basch again, squinting at him.  "Why aren't you dead?"  
  
"To silence Ondore," he explained.  "My life ensures his compliance with the Empire."  
  
"Oh," she said.  
  
They were both silent, unable to think of anything to say.  While he was avoiding eye-contact with Maeve, Basch caught my eye.  "Where are you from?" I mouthed to him, motioning him to continue talking.  
  
"I don't believe I ever asked where you are from," he said quickly, and I gave him a thumbs up.  Aelia chuckled beside me and shook her head.  
  
"Giza," she replied.  "Not a bad place."  
  
I thought back to the times I'd visited the village on the plains, and something struck me.  "Maeve, how old are you?"  
  
She scoffed.  "Psh, what?  Like, nineteen.  How old are you?"  She elbowed Basch with a goofy and uncomfortable grin.  "Amirite?"  
  
"No, I was in Giza like twenty years ago," I said, getting up.  "I met a girl.  She said she was ten."  
  
Her eyes widened.  "You!  That was you!"  
  
Balthier and Fran approached.  "What is this now?" he asked.  
  
Basch chuckled.  "It would appear that Karre and Maeve are old friends."  
  
"You told me you didn't babysit!" she said indignantly.  "What the fuck are you doing with Vaan then?"  
  
I laughed.  "That's fair.  You got me; I've got no defense.  Looks like you did alright teaching yourself to be awesome.  I mean, I would have taught you better, but I didn't want to."  
  
A man came running around the corner and approached a nearby group of people.  "A boy said he was Captain Ronsenburg.  They took him in for questioning."  
  
"I guess it's time to go," I said, and we walked off to find Vaan.


	9. The Empire's Hounds

"The Empire's hounds grow passing bold indeed," said the man in charge.  
  
"A shame if they learnt the Marquis trafficked with the likes of you," Balthier announced as we entered the room.  There were gasps from the group gathered.  "Agents masqerading as guides.  A hideout at the back of a tavern.  Not exactly earning high marks for originality, are we?"  
  
"Now you've done it," the bangaa closest to the door said menacingly as he approached us.  
  
"Wait!" the first man said, stopping him.  Basch stepped further into the room.  "So Basch fon Ronsenburg does yet live."  
  
And we told him our story.  We told him who really murdered King Raminas.  We told him what errand had brought us to Bhujerba.  
  
"I knew there must be more to it, but to find you at the end of this tale..."  The man, whose name was Havharro, laughed.  "Ah, to see the Marquis' face when he learns of it."  
  
"I should like nothing more," Basch agreed.  "I would meet him and see for myself."  
  
"How say you, my Lord?" Havharro asked the Rev who stood with us.  
  
"There is little to be said," he responded.  "I shall arrange a meeting with the Marquis.  We shall expect you at the estate."  He walked off.  
  


***

"His Excellency the Marquis is otherwise occupied until sunset.  Please, I will show you to a place where you may wait in comfort," the Bhujerban rebel posed as a Sainikah said.

We were led to a small house and told to wait.  There was some food provided, and we settled down.  Aelia made a quick trip to her home, and I took a nap.  Another Sainikah came to get us when the sun had gone down.  He led us to Ondore's estate, and we walked in.

When we reached Ondore, he was sitting at a large chair in front of a large table.  "Sir Basch fon Ronsenburg," he said.  "It was not so very long ago that I announced you had been executed."

"And that is the only reason I draw breath," Basch replied.

The Marquis sighed and leaned against the table.  "So you are the sword he's strung above my head.  Vayne has left not a thing to chance.  And?"

"A leader of the Resistance has fallen into Imperial hands," Basch explained.  "A woman by the name of Amalia.  I would rescue her, but I need your help."

"This resistance leader - this Amalia.  She must be very important," Ondore said slowly.

Basch did something of a salute.

"You understand I've my position to consider," the Marquis said as he rose from his chair.

"Would you let us see Larsa?" Vaan asked, stepping forward.  "He's got my friend with him."

"I'm afraid you're too late," he replied.  "Lord Larsa's cortege has already rejoined the Imperial detachment.  I am told they will depart for Rabanastre upon the arrival of the fleet this eventide."

The boy began to push Balthier impatiently.  "What are we waiting for?!"

"For you to calm down," he replied.

"Captain Ronsenburg," the Marquis began again.  "Surely the exigencies of position are not lost on you.  Why indeed, you should find the enemy's chains an easy burden to bear."  The two nodded as they came to an understanding.

Balthier was stepping forward as my heart was skipping a beat.  "Wait!" he said.

"Sorry," Basch replied with a shrug.  "Can't be helped."  He drew his sword.

"Summon the guard!" Ondore commanded one of the Rev.  We turned around to face the group of soldiers coming through the opened doors.  "They're to be taken to Judge Ghis."

"Let me go," Vaan said, struggling.

I think I let out a hiss as two soldiers grabbed my arms.  We were all put in handcuffs and chained together.  Vaan was in front of me and Balthier behind.  We were led from one airship to another, and my heart was beating ferociously.  I cringed and breathed heavily.  "Chin up," Balthier said behind me, giving me an encouraging elbow as his hands were heavily restricted.

"Easy for you to say," I replied more sharply than his kindness warranted.

We were led to the bridge of the Dreadnought Leviathan.  "The prisoners, My Lord," one of the guards said.  We approached two others, Amalia, and Judge Ghis.

As Amalia turned to us, she gasped as if she had seen a ghost.  The shock turned quickly to rage.

"Majesty-" Basch began, but was silenced by a quick slap to the face.  I thought sympathetically about how many times Basch had been attacked by someone since I'd known him and was thankful for his sake that he had facial hair to absorb some of the slap.

"After what you've done!" she replied.  "How dare you!  You're supposed to be dead."

There was a moment of silence, and before I could get caught  up on Basch's greeting to the rebel, Ghis interjected.  "Come now, come now.  Have you forgotten your manners?  This is hardly the courtesy due the late Princess Ashelia B'nargin Dalmasca."

Looks of suprise were exchanged all around and Vaan said, "'Princess'?"

"To be sure, she bears no proof of her former station," the Judge continued.  "No different than any mean member of the insurgence."

"The resistance," Ashelia corrected.  I didn't like her any more now than when we met in the Garamsythe.

"His Excellency the Consul asks the ministry of the disthroned royal family in restoring peace to Dalmasca.  Those who foster instability and unrest, who claim royal blood without proof, they shall meet their fate at the gallows.  There are no exceptions."

"I will not play puppet to Vayne," she snapped.

"King Raminas entrusted me with a task," Basch announced.  "Should the time come, he bade me give you something of great importance.  It is your birthright: the Dusk Shard.  It will warrant the quality of her blood.  Only I know where to find it."

"Wait!" Ashe interrupted.  "You took my father's life!  Why spare mine now?  You would have me live in shame?"

"If that is your duty: yes," was his quick reply.

She recoiled a little.  I was only now realizing that she couldn't be much older than Vaan was, and he was just a child by all counts.

"Stop being so stubborn," the boy chimed in.  "Keep on like this and you're gonna get us all killed."

"Don't interrupt," she snapped.

All of a sudden, a light began to shine.  Vaan held the stone he had taken from the treasury.  "What?" he said softly.

Ashe gasped and Basch said, "Vaan.  That stone."

"It was in the palace treasure," he explained.

"Well, well," Balthier said appreciatively.

Ghis laughed heartily.  "Splendid!  You've brought the Stone with you!  This spares us a great deal of trouble."

"Don't give it to him," Ashe pleaded as guards restrained her.

Vaan looked down at the stone, grunted in confusion, and looked back at Bathier, Fran, and I.  Balthier also grunted, Fran nodded, and I shrugged.  Vaan sighed, and said, "You have to promise: no executions."  He handed over the stone.

"A Judge's duty is to the law," Ghis said.  He turned his back on us.  "Take them away.  Lady Ashe is to be quartered separately."

With that, the guards led us away, taking Ashe in a different direction.  As we walked, Basch turned to Vaan.   "So, you were carrying it all along.  The Fates jest."

Vaan sighed, and Balthier chimed in.  "Tell these Fates of yours to leave me out."

I said nothing.  Not that I particularly enjoyed being a prisoner on an airship, but this little exploit was the first opportunity I'd had in years to really talk with and be around people.  I wouldn't have the Fates leave me out for anything.

"Keep quiet!" one of the guards yelled.

"There was nothing else that I could do.  You know that," Basch said as Balthier came up next to him.

"Oh, I understand," he replied.  "Honor, duty, and all that."  The two stopped walking, so I stopped too.  "I still can't believe that was the princess."

The same guard got fed up and yelled, swinging his lance, "I said keep quiet!"

As the guard brought his lance between the two prisoners, Balthier grabbed it and yanked it forward.  As the guard fell, Basch hit him in the back with his large handcuffs.  Fran kicked another guard that was about to come to this one's rescue, and we turned to the last two.  To our surprise, one took out the one in front of him.  He took off his helmet.

Balthier moved forward with his new lance, but Basch kept him back.  "The Marquis has been busy."

"Not lightly did I beg his aid," the man replied.  "Listen, it has been a full two years.  I alone have kept Her Majesty safely hidden."  He began to unlock Basch's restraints.  "I doubted friend and foe alike.  I could trust nobody."  He handed the key back to the rest of us so that we would no longer be shackled.

"You did you duty.  And mine for me," Basch said appreciatively.

"I'm getting her out.  I need your help."

"Of course."


	10. The Dreadnought Leviathan

"Wait, a word of caution before we set out," the man, whose name was Vossler, said.  "See that red web of light spanning the passageway?  It is a mechanism to detect intruders within the ship.  Break one of those beams and an alarm will sound, summoning the guard.  The alarm should cease after a time, but it's better to avoid drawing unnecessary attention.  Come, Her Majesty awaits."  
  
We set off into a maze of hallways full of soldiers and traps.  We were able to make it to the Central Brig Access Room without setting off any of the alarms.  In the room, however, a sizable group of guards stood waiting for us.  
  
"Fear not their numbers!  Take down the leaders, and the others will follow!" Vossler called.  
  
So we all went after the two soldiers in fancier armor who were yelling out orders.  They were no match for the eight of us, and when their leaders fell the other soldiers fled.  We nicked a key off of one of the fallen leaders and ran forward to where the princess was being held.  
  
Ashe stood as we opened the large door to her cage.  "You are unharmed?" Vossler asked quickly.  
  
"Vossler!  I-" she started, but she grew weak and almost fell over.  
  
Vossler caught her.  "Majesty."  
  
"It's nothing.  I'll be fine."  She stood up straight.  
  
I rolled my eyes.  "Drama queen," I said under my breath.  No one seemed to hear me, and that was fine with me.  
  
Basch approached the two.  "You," Ashe said venomously.  
  
"Come on, come on!" Vaan insisted.  "Let's go!  What are you waiting for?  Penelo's still out there."  
  
"We should hurry," Balthier agreed, keeping watch n the doorway.  "They won't be long."  
  
"We will talk later," Vossler told Ashe.  
  
As soon as we reentered the Central Brig Access Room, the alarms blared.  "Majesty," Basch said.   "We will cut you a path."  
  
"I will not place my trust in the sword of a traitor," she protested childishly.  
  
Maeve and I were already moving forward to attack oncoming soldiers.  
  
"Yet trust his sword we must, traitor or no," Vossler said.  "I see no other way.  We track back, commandeer a ship, and make our escape."  
  
I couldn't hear the rest of what was said because I was already through the door, grappling with a couple soldiers.  One came up behind me, and Balthier shot him before I had a chance to take care of it.  "Thanks," I called over the din of fighting and the alarm.  
  
"Don't mention it," he said.  
  
Vossler and Basch quickly caught up with us, and we made our way back through the labyrinth of an airship.  "One thought that definitely did not cross my mind as we were navigating this maze earlier is 'gee, I hope I get to do this twice,'" I said loudly, ramming the butt end of my lance into a soldier's chestplate.  
  
"Damn straight," Maeve agreed, severely denting the arm of another soldier's armor and definitely breaking bones.  
  
"We had to rescue the princess," Vossler said in defense of the mission.  
  
"Because we needed that drama in our lives," I said sarcastically.  "I'm changing my profession!  I'm no longer a treasure hunter; I'm now a knight in shining armor.  As soon as we get Penelo back, that'll be two damsels in distress I've rescued."  
  
"She's a talkative one, isn't she?" Vossler said to Basch with an eyebrow cocked.  
  
"Just trying to pass the time," I said, coming up on yet another group of soldiers.  "Beating the shit out of nameless men can get a bit monotonous."  
  
"Wouldn't want us getting bored while we battle for our lives, now would we?" Aelia said with a grin.  
  
"Exactly," I agreed.  
  
We ran without talking for a while longer until we ran into Larsa and Penelo.  "Vaan!" she said, relieved.  
  
She ran toward him and they hugged.  "It's okay.  We're okay," he said softly to her.  
  
"Ghis knows you've escaped," Larsa said, approaching the rest of us.  "You must hurry."  He turned to Vossler.  "You are Captain Azelas.  You will follow me.  We must reach the airships before they do."  
  
"You would let us leave knowing who we are?" Vossler asked in astonishment.  Aelia grinned proudly.  
  
Larsa turned to Ashe.  "Lady Ashe," he began, "by all rights you ought not even to exist.  That you and Captain Ronsenburg were made to appear dead is like a hidden thread laid bare.  Your actions hereafter will pull at that thread, and we will see what it unravels.  This is our chance.  We must see this through and get to the bottom of it.  I believe 'tis for the good of Dalmasca and the good of the Empire."  
  
Ashe thought for a moment, then nodded.  "Very well, then."  
  
"Thanks, 'Lamont,'" Vaan said from behind the little prince.  I let out a chuckle.  
  
"Uhh," he said, turning quickly.  "I must apologize."  Vaan scoffed.  "Penelo, for you."  He held out the piece of nethicite.  "May it bring you good fortune."  
  
"Thanks," she said with a sincere smile.  
  
He turned to Aelia, who knelt down.  "I'm so incredibly proud of you," she said, and I was pretty sure her voice quavered when she spoke.  She kissed him on the forehead.  
  
"We shall meet again soon," he said with a smile.  
  
"Until then."  She stood and nodded.  
  
"Let us go," Larsa said to Vossler.  The soldier nodded and followed the boy off down a corridor.  
  
We ran in another direction and came upon Judge Ghis.  "Such a great shame," he said, weapons in hand.  "I must confess: I thought you the one who would help us restore peace to Dalmasca."  The doors shut behind us and a few soldiers stood in front of it.  "No matter.  We hold the proof of your royal lineage.  A maid of passing resemblance will serve our purposes now."  He held up his hand and began to cast magicks.  "As for you my dear, the Empire requires you no more!"  
  
The magicks swirled above us, but the disappeared harmlessly as the reached us.  "What was that?" Penelo said, holding up the stone that Larsa had given her.  
  
Balthier scowled.  "The nethicite."  
  
Ashe ran angrily toward Ghis.  "Your Majesty does not disappoint," he said smugly but a little surprised.  "Ever quick to spurn an honorable surrender, as was your father."  
  
The princess growled.  " _You know nothing of my father_!"  
  
And we all attacked.  Ashe, Basch, Aelia, and Balthier focused on Ghis as Vaan, Maeve, Fran, Penelo, and I focused our efforts on the miscellaneous footsoldiers.  We were able to take out the soldiers and they were able to knock Ghis to his knees.  His helmet fell off, and he looked at us in disbelief.  
  
"We've secured an Atamos," Vossler, suddenly appearing in the doorway, called.  "Come!"  
  
"An Atamos?" Balthier said with distaste as we headed off toward the ships.  "All skiff, no ship.  Hardly fit for a leading man."  
  
"So I can fly it, then?" Vaan said excitedly.  
  
"Are you mad?" Fran said, amused.  
  
I laughed and pushed him forward.  "Not yet, youngling."  
  
We ran through the Dreadnought Leviathan and got onto the Atamos.  Fran got into the pilot's seat and started the ship.  I made sure that I found a spot far from the windows so that I would not have to even a little see the sky around us.  
  
"Can't we go any faster?" Penelo asked anxiously.  
  
"Not yet," Fran responded.  
  
We flew past a bunch of imperial airships, everyone ducking down to remain out of sight.  "They passed," Ashe observed in amazement.  
  
"Had we gone too fast they would have noticed," Fran explained.  
  
We flew back to Bhujerba.  After a moment, Maeve leaned over her seat and looked at me with a big, goofy grin.  "Did you see that hair, though?  What a horrible 'do, am I right?"  
  
I laughed a lot more than I thought I would.  "I was thinking that, too!  Holy shit, yes!  Like, what kind of hair curls like that?"  
  
"He looked like my grandma," she said with a giggle.  
  
Ashe scoffed and rolled her eyes.  Maeve and I looked at each other and burst out laughing anew.  It did not escape my notice that Basch looked at his former soldier and smiled, though I'm sure he was not altogether pleased that her mirth came at the expense of his princess.  
  
"We're approaching the skycity," Fran announced as a way of warning everyone to prepare for landing.  
  
I shut my eyes tightly and waited.  The Atamos was fairly smooth in its descent, and for that I was grateful.  We hit the ground of the hangar, and I opened my eyes.  I made eye-contact with an amused Balthier.  "Now that wasn't too bad, was it?" he said with a smirk.  
  
I rolled my eyes.  "It's been worse.  I'll be happy once we're back on solid ground.  None of this 'skycity' bullshit."  
  
Everyone got up and started heading out into the aerodome.  "You're welcome to head back yourself," Balthier said, still smirking.  
  
My face got hot.  I growled a little and stalked out of the Atamos.   _I can't leave you guys, and you know it.  
  
_ I heard Penelo ask quietly, "Why _is_ she here?"  
  
"I think she's lonely," Aelia said very quietly, obviously not intending for me to hear her.  
  
"Oh," the young Rabanastran replied.


	11. I'm Going on an Adventure

We stood around in the lobby of the aerodome.  Penelo ran up to Balthier with something in her hand.  "Balthier, your handkerchief.  I thought you might want it back."  
  
"I shall wear it close to my heart," he said, giving a small bow.  She giggled at the gesture.  
  
I stood back a ways, and I think I let out a sigh.  As rude as the sky pirate had been, there was something about him that kept drawing me in.  He had been so kind to me when we'd first arrived in Bhujerba.  
  
"I heard that," Maeve said, leaning over.  
  
"What?" I said, jumping.  My face felt hot.  
  
She looked at Balthier and sighed dramatically.  "You _like_  him," she said with a grin and a singsong voice.  
  
I raised my eyebrows incredulously and looked at her.  " _You're_  one to talk!"  
  
A look of fear entered her eyes.  "I don't know what you're talking about!"  
  
"So you're not in love with our dutiful captain?" I said sarcastically.  
  
She narrowed her eyes at me, and I narrowed my own at her.  Then she unexpectedly burst out laughing.  "Karre, Karre, Karre," she began, and continued to say my name many more times.  "'Sall right.  I _trust_ you.  And you don't have to worry about me spilling your little secret either.  I'm very good at secrets."  
  
"Somehow I find that hard to believe," I muttered.  
  
She put her arm around me, winked, and put a finger to her own lips.  
  
"I know you would not speak so lightly," Ashe was saying to Vossler.  "Very well."  
  
"Keep her well," he said to Basch.  "Go to Ondore, and there await my return."  
  


***

I'd just finished a quick bath and was redressing.  I had no idea that the Marquis was Ashe's uncle.  It also surprised me that he would not help her.  I stepped out of my room, fully dressed and ready to eat, when I saw Ashe slipping away, followed closely by a sneaky Vaan who was in turn followed by a sneakier Balthier.  I decided to follow the three of them.  They slipped through the quiet streets of Bhujerba and headed off to the aerodome.  All three of them, undetected by those before them, sequentially entered the Strahl.  Ashe and Vaan were in the cockpit, Balthier in the hall just outside, and I was in a doorway off that hallway so as not to be seen.  I kept checking behind me for others.

"What are you doing?" I heard Vaan ask.  "This is Balthier's ship."

"I'm going to retrieve the Dawn Shard," the princess replied.  "It's the proof that I need.  I know where it's hidden.  I'll return his airship later."

"Are you crazy?" Vaan said in disbelief.

"This is something I have to do," she replied in annoyance.  "For myself and all those who have fallen.  I will not be made to hide!  I'll fight alone if I must."

"You still have Basch, right?" Vaan said.  "Besides, you can't just go around stealing people's ships.  What are you trying to do?"

As he said this, the rest of our gang appeared behind me.  I shushed them and shrugged to tell them that I didn't really know what was going on.

"I'm trying to concentrate!" Ashe yelled back.

"That's quite enough, Your Majesty," came Ondore's voice over the ship's speakers.  Most of us looked around very surprised, but Fran did not seem fazed by it.  I poked my head out and saw Balthier now in the doorway to the cockpit with a device in his hands.  "What do you think?  A bit over the top?"  The device turned off, and it was only Balthier speaking.  "In my line of work, you never know when something like this might come in handy."  He clicked it on again, and Ashe's voice came out.  "I'm trying to concentrate."  He walked all the way into the cockpit and said, "I'm leaving you with the Marquis."

"You can't!" the princess protested.

"Trust me, you're better off staying here," he replied.

"Suppose you kidnapped me instead!" she offered in desperation.  "You're a sky pirate, aren't you?  Then steal me.  Is that so much to ask?"

"What do you have that I would want?" he replied with mild interest.

"The Dynast-King's treasure," she replied.  "The Dawn Shard is but one of the riches that lies waiting in King Raithwall's tomb."

Balthier whistled in appreciation.  "King Raithwall, you say?"

Basch left our eavesdropping group and joined his princess.  "Kidnapping royalty is a serious offense.  It won't do much to lower the bounty on your head."

"How much is the price on _your_  head these days, I wonder," was the sky pirate's reply.

"Allow me to escort you in Vossler's place," Basch said to Ashe, and she nodded.

Maeve and I went and seated ourselves, and Fran walked in with Penelo.  "Will you be joining us?"

"What?" Vaan said in disbelief.  "Are you kidding?  I don't want to stick around this place."

"Then I'm coming too!" Penelo announced, sitting herself down quickly behind Vaan.

"Penelo!" he replied.

"Don't leave me here!"

He sighed.  "Of course not."

"Then it's settled," Fran announced.  "We should leave before the Marquis realizes she's missing, like proper kidnappers."  She took her seat as the pilot, and everyone else hunkered down.  I was next to Balthier and across from Penelo.

I shut my eyes tightly as the Strahl took off.  "Still afraid of flying?" Balthier asked, his smirk audible.

"It's not something that a few jaunts in an airship and a trip to a skycity will get rid of," I replied through clenched teeth.

"A shame, too," he replied.  "This is a decent trip."

"As long as our destination is the ground and not another goddamn skycity," I replied, my eyes still closed.

"If you're afraid of flying, why are you a sky pirate?" Ashe asked.

"I'm not a sky pirate," I replied, easing open my eyes as I felt the Strahl level out.  Lucky for me, Fran was a very good pilot.  "I'm a treasure hunter mixed up with a couple of sky pirates."

"A fine distinction," she said with one eyebrow raised.

"We're very similar, except for our favored modes of transportation," I said with a shrug.  "Sky pirate thieves by airship, and treasure hunter goes by foot or chocobo or teleport stone."

"What's a teleport stone?" Penelo asked, her eyes bright and curious.

I scoffed in surprise.  "I would have just assumed you knew, but I suppose you wouldn't have had an opportunity to use them.  You know the large crystals all over Ivalice?"

"Of course," she replied.

"Well, the blue ones are only for restoration and healing.  The orange ones, however, are Gate Crystals, and will react to special teleport stones and take you to any other Gate Crystal you've interacted with.  It's a little disorienting, but they're great for cross-continent trips."

"I threw up after my first Gate Crystal experience," Aelia announced, "but they're very practical for long voyages, yes.  Not so much for quick trips, as teleport stones are expensive."

I groaned.  "They are.  Not such a problem if you can get the from monsters, but even then they're rare."

"Speaking of," Balthier began to Aelia, "where did a nanny learn to fight like that?"

"Oh no," she said, shaking her head.  "We're not doing my backstory.  Not today."

"Now I'm very intrigued," Balthier continued.  "The nanny of the son of Emperor Gramis has something to hide?"

She kept her mouth shut and smiled.

"Well, if I get no information out of you, there is something else I've been wondering about."  He turned to Maeve.  "How and why exactly did you get on the Strahl in Rabanastre?"

She laughed and took out a bottle.  She took a swig before she began.  "That's a good question.  I remember for sure being at the Sandsea, and that presumptuous Tomaj _deigning_ to cut me off.  So rude."  She got lost in thought for a moment.  "Not the first time someone's cut me off, of course.   _I think_  that I went off looking for another source of alcohol?"  She shrugged.  "I dunno."

"You really don't remember?  Wasn't it just yesterday?" Penelo asked in disbelief.

Maeve laughed.  " _You_  have obviously never partaken of the alcohol, little one.  Shit like that happens all the time."

"We approach our destination," Fran announced.

"It is approaching nightfall," Basch observed.  "Perhaps it would be best if we were to spend the night here and set out in the morning."

"There's provisions enough for everyone aboard the Strahl," Balthier agreed.  "Better to brave the Sandsea during the day rather than at night."

"So it's settled."  The Strahl came to a halt.


	12. The Sandsea

We stared up at the airship that hovered above us and gasped as it disappeared.  
  
"This 'come in handy' often?" Ashe asked Balthier with raised eyebrows.  
  
He shrugged.  "It's tough being popular.  Wouldn't want admirers dropping in while we're away," he said.  
  
I coughed meaningfully and stared at Maeve.  She grinned.  
  
"Well now," Balthier continued, "that's as far as she goes.  We'll be in Jagd from here onwards."  
  
"Across the Sandsea, to the Valley of the Dead, and to King Raithwall's tomb below," Ashe recounted ominously, looking off in the direction we had to go.  
  
"So, when you're in Jagd," Vaan started saying to Penelo and everyone looked over, "skystones don't work at all.  That's why we gotta hoof it the rest of the way, ya see?"  
  
"Happy you get to teach me something for a change?" she replied with a smirk.  
  
"Well, if you want to be a sky pirate, you have to know your-"  He realized what she said.  "Hey!  What do you mean, 'for a change'?"  
  
She giggled.  "Come on, accept it!  I'm smarter than you!"  
  
"At least we thought to bring entertainment," Balthier commented.  I chuckled.  
  
"Oh yeah?" Vaan said to Penelo.  "Says who?  You wanna see what they think about it?"  
  
Ashe let out a long, dramatic sigh.  
  
"I wouldn't be so confident," Penelo replied cheekily.  
  
Vaan's eyes fell on me first.  I grinned.  "Don't ask," I advised.  "You won't like the answers you get, hun."  
  
"See!" Penelo said triumphantly.  
  
"'You're in good hands, right Basch?'" I said, mimicking him.  
  
He groaned, apparently having forgotten about his little slip up outside the aerodome.  
  
"Come on," I said, motioning West.  "Let's go."  
  
We walked off into the Ogir-Yensa Sandsea.  Vaan approached the undulating waves of sand in awe.  He knelt down and scooped up a handful of the fine grains, watching as they slipped back through his fingers.  Penelo called him back to the group and asked, "So where exactly is Raithwall's tomb?"  
  
"Far to the West," Basch explained.  "We must first cross the Ogir-Yensa, and beyond that the Nam-Yensa, before we reach the tomb.  An expanse of desert larger still than all of Dalmasca.  We must pace ourselves.  If you grow tired, we stop and take rest."  
  
"You don't have to worry about me," Penelo responded proudly, puffing out her chest.  "I'm tougher than I look."  
  
Basch chuckled.  "You are at that."  
  
Maeve sidled up to the captain and glared at him.  He stared cautiously back.  "I'm tough," she said.  He opened his mouth, probably to agree with her, but she kept talking.  "I could kick your ass.  If I wanted to.  Which, lucky for you, I don't."  
  
Basch inhaled, preparing to speak, but let the air out in a sigh instead.  "Lucky for me indeed," he said sadly.  
  
"That tomb isn't going to plunder itself, ladies and gents," I said, noticing that we'd stopped walking again to admire the view.  "Let's go."  A couple Alraunes roamed the dunes.  They were small and fairly easily disposed of, however.  Penelo fought with a dagger and was pretty quick.  "Nice moves, kid."  
  
She grinned.  "Thanks."  
  
"Where'd the two of you learn to fight?" I asked, addressing Vaan as well.  "Can't imagine there's an abundant need to learn combat like this in Rabanastre."  
  
"Vaan likes to fight the rats in the sewers," Penelo explained.  "He also likes to drag me along."  
  
"You gotta be prepared," he said defensively.  
  
"It seems it worked out well," Aelia commented.  "You're training has paid off on this surprise adventure."  
  
"If only Vaan had learned some of the rules of sky pirating," I began.  "Such as, I don't know-"  
  
"Not again!" Vaan pleaded, ready for his mistake to be left in the past.  
  
"Not using names," I finished, unfazed.  
  
He groaned, and Maeve chuckled.  I was glad she was moving on from her threat to Basch.  
  
We reached the large structure that we'd need to traverse in order to continue westward.  Vaan's eyes widened, and Basch said, "A construct to draw oil from the ground.  Abandoned many years now, it seems."  
  
"Did Dalmascans build this?" Vaan asked.  
  
"No," he replied.  "The Rozarrians.  Their empire lies far to the West, ever at war with Archadia, heedless of the kingdoms caught in their midst.  Dalmasca.  Nabradia.  Landis."  
  
"'Tis the small craft's fate: to watch the list of the galleons and pray for light winds," Vossler said, appearing seemingly out of nowhere.  
  
"Vossler!" Basch said with a grin.  "Why are you here?"  
  
"Imagine my surprise when upon my return to Bhujerba I find both you and the lady Ashe have vanished," he said cheekily.  "I thought you above consorting with sky pirates."  
  
Balthier scoffed, Fran rolled her eyes, and Basch said, "Balthier is a man worthy of our trust.  And it was the lady Ashe's decision.  I am content to lend my arm, as I could not when Rasler died, when her throne was taken.  Never again.  I will defend her this time."  
  
 _Dammit,_  I thought when I saw the sadness returning to Maeve's eyes.  The last thing we needed was relationship problems getting in the way of this cross-desert journey.  
  
"You walk the knight's path," Vossler said.  "The lady Ashe?"  Basch motioned to where Ashe stood, not far away, and Vossler approached her.  
  
I moved closer to Balthier and Fran, uninterested in Vossler and Ashe's conversation.  I looked out at the sandsea, a sight that I had not beheld for many years.  My ears already felt hot from the desert sun.  
  
"We should leave this place," Fran told Balthier, looking around at the construct we stood on.  
  
"Let me guess: sandstorm?" he replied.  A sandstorm would be bad, but if we found shelter we would be fine.  
  
"Something far worse," she said.  "They come."  
  
It took both Balthier and me a moment, but we remembered who made the Yensas their home.  " _Damn_ ," Balthier said aloud, and ran over to interrupt the princess and Vossler.  "We leave at once!  This is Urutan-Yensa territory, and they are unfond of visitors.  Looks like we've attracted the wrong sort of attention!  Let's quit this place while we still can.  Move!"  
  
And we did.  We hurried off.  We didn't get far before a couple Alraunes stopped our progress.  Our running then didn't even seem to matter because there were Urutan-Yensa waiting around the corner for us.  They hadn't known about us until we ran right into them.  They were short humanoids with crustacean faces.  They were of middling intelligence and very fast.  We outnumbered them and were on the whole skilled fighters, so they weren't too much of a problem.  A hoard of Urutan-Yensa would, however, cause problems.  
  
The path ahead was clear for a bit at least, so we resumed a more comfortable pace.  Penelo looked up, shielding her eyes.  "I'm getting a sunburn for sure," she said unhappily.  
  
"A moment," Aelia said, remembering something and digging around in her bag.  She pulled out a balm and handed it to the surprised Rabanastran.  "To protect you from the sun."  
  
"Uhh, thanks," Penelo replied, taking the jar and opening it up.  
  
"You should put some on as well," she said to Vaan.  
  
I snorted.  "This is too perfect," I said.  
  
"What?" she asked, looking at me in surprise.  
  
"Once a nanny, always a nanny it seems," Basch agreed.  
  
Aelia realized how maternal a display that had been and grinned sheepishly.  "I see your point.  Old habits die hard, I suppose."  
  
"Come here," Penelo said to Vaan, having already finished applying it to her face.  He grimaced and tried to evade her approaching fingers, slathered with sun-protective balm.  "Stop being such a baby!  You'll get a huge sunburn."  
  
"No!  Penelo," he whined.  
  
"Don't blame _me_  when you're red and peeling and in pain!" she said, sticking her tongue out at him.  
  
Basch approached her.  "If Vaan isn't going to take advantage of this offer, I will."  He smiled and held out his hand.  Penelo giggled and wiped the balm on her hand onto his.  He put it on his face.  He had just a little too much, so he shrugged and put the rest of it on his exposed shoulder.  "Majesty?" he asked, motioning to the balm.  
  
Ashe looked to Aelia, to make sure that the offer for sun protection extended to her as well.  Aelia smiled and nodded, and Ashe approached Penelo who still held the jar.  
  
As the princess put it on her face, Basch turned to Maeve.  "Maeve?  Would you care for some protection from the sun?"  
  
She glared at him.  Penelo was helping Ashe to make sure hers was evenly applied.  "Fine," she agreed, "but I'm not doing it because you told me to."  She approached Penelo and slathered it on haphazardly.  
  
I saw Basch opening his mouth to tell her that her coverage was far from perfect and stepped in to avoid that disaster.  "That was the worst job you could have done," I said with a smirk.  I motioned for her to approach with a finger.  She shrugged in agreement, knowing that her current, already a little intoxicated state was less than ideal for even coverage.  I rubbed it in as evenly and completely as I could.  
  
"Thanks, Karre," she said, and kissed me on the cheek.  My face got red, and I looked at her with wide, shocked eyes.  "You're a good friend.  Friendship, man.  What a cool thing.  Two awesome ladies, being awesome together."  
  
I cleared my throat and tried to back up a little, uncomfortable with this display of affection.  "Maeve," I cautioned.  "Can you, uhh, back up a little bit there?"  
  
She chuckled.  "Sure, bro."  She clapped a hand on my shoulder, then stepped back.  
  
Balthier cleared his throat and approached Penelo.  "It wouldn't do for a leading man to get a sunburn.  May I?"  
  
She smiled and held out the jar of balm.  
  
I looked around, my face still hot from my weird interaction with Maeve.  I caught Basch's eye.  He had a confused smile creeping onto his face.  I shrugged to let him know that I didn't really understand what had just happened either.  
  
Aelia spoke up then.  "Well, now that all of our fair-skinned companions have applied their sun protection, shall we continue across the Sandsea?"


	13. The Ogir-Yensa

I still felt super uncomfortable as we continued our trek toward Raithwall's tomb.  I _knew_  for a fact that she was in love with Basch, so why did she kiss me on the cheek?  "Hey, uhh, Maeve?" I said after we took down three Urutan-Yensas.  
  
"'Ey," she said, pointing at me with a grin.  "What up?"  
  
"I think we need to have a little talk about..." I paused, searching for the right word, " _boundaries_."  
  
Her face scrunched up in confusion, but she shrugged and fell back.  I didn't particularly want to be overheard by our companions.  "Alright, Kar-Bear.  What's the haps?"  
  
I took a deep breath and sighed.  "You can't kiss me," I said slowly, haltingly, awkwardly.  "I don't, uhh, like you that way."  The words felt stupid in my mouth, and stupider in my ears.  
  
She raised an eyebrow.  Then she burst out laughing, and every fiber of my being cringed in embarrassment.  "Karre!  What did I say? 'You're a good _friend_.'"  
  
"Yeah, but you said it in a way that made it seem like you meant more than friends," I said slowly.  It had felt like a cover-up, the way she'd said it.  
  
She thought about that, then laughed again.  "I guess I see your point," she admitted.  "Nah, Karre.  You know that I know that you got the hots for a _certain someone_.  And you might know something similar about me."  
  
That was true.  "Okay," I conceded, more than happy to bring this uncomfortable conversation to an end.  
  
"I want you to get laid," she continued.  She looked over at Balthier who was walking and talking quietly with Fran.  "Yo, are they having the sex?"  
  
I'd been avoiding asking myself that question for a while now.  "I honestly can't tell," I admitted.  Sometimes they seemed like there was no way they weren't fucking, then other times their relationship seemed completely platonic.  The words "nobody knows men like Fran does" echoed in my head.  
  
"Lemme find out for you," she said and walked away before I could stop her.  She sidled right up to the sky pirates.  They looked at her with raised eyebrows.  "So gams," she said, "are you two doing the do?"  She waggled her eyebrows.  
  
My face was on fire, and I felt dizzy.  I was worried that someone would turn around and see how I was floundering.  No one did.  
  
Balthier took a moment to stare at Maeve, then scoffed.  Fran, on the other hand, chuckled.  "You're asking because...?"  
  
Maeve shrugged, trying to play it cool and being anything but cool.  "Just trying to get to know you, bro," she said, and I wanted to crawl into the sand and never come out.  
  
"We are partners: nothing more and nothing less," she said enigmatically, leaving us with no answers and more frustration.  
  
Maeve wouldn't let it go.  "So, like sexual partners?  Romantic partners?  Or just, like, business partners?  Because I still don't really know," she continued.  
  
"Yes," Fran replied with a grin.  Balthier was grinning as well at the games Fran was playing with us.  
  
Maeve's whole face scrunched up in confusion.  "Wait, what?"  
  
Fran looked away with a smirk still on her face, and the pair walked ahead to take care of an Urutan-Yensa that came out from behind a corner.  
  
Maeve walked back over to me and shrugged.  "Worth a try," she said.  
  
I grimaced, unsure if that enigmatic response was worth the discomfort we all felt during that exchange.  
  
"Oh, Penelo!" Vaan said suddenly.  "I just remembered.  Karre knew Reks!"  
  
"Woah, there, buddy.  Not so fast," I said as I saw Penelo's eyes widen.  "I met him once.  Only once."  
  
"When?  Why?" she asked, coming up close beside me.  
  
"I think it might have been seven years ago?  I don't know.  When you get to be as old as I am - and you probably won't because you're a hume - all of time blends together and you can't keep anything straight in your head."  I sighed.  "So, yeah, maybe seven years ago.  I was on a hunt."  
  
"A hunt?"  
  
I raised an eyebrow.  "Yeah.  Chasing a mark?  Do you really not know about that?"  She shook her head, and I shrugged in surprise.  "Huh.  You children really don't get out much, do you?"  
  
"We're a little busy most of the time," Vaan responded, crossing his arms defensively.  
  
"Planning heists?"  I laughed.  "No, you know that board in the Sandsea?  It's got posters of creatures people want dead on it?"  
  
"Oh yeah.  I've seen that."  Penelo smiled.  "Those are 'hunts'?"  
  
I nodded.  "Yep.  Someone sets something up with the clan, and then a hunter accepts the hunt, kills the baddie, and gets the reward.  Simple stuff.  Not that the fights are always simple, but it's a good way to get some cash."  
  
"A bit inelegant," Balthier put in.  "I'd much rather a heist or a good, old treasure map."  
  
I laughed.  "I've used a treasure map or two in my day.   _Spelunking_ is never elegant."  
  
"Spelunking isn't always involved," he replied.  
  
"Nine times out of ten, a treasure map takes you through a slimy cave filled with things that want to eat you.  Marks are found all over the place.  A good number of them are in residential areas; that's why someone wants them dead."  As I explained, Penelo watched me with interest.  
  
"Not a great place to be if you have multiple outstanding warrants for your arrest," Balthier persisted.  
  
I smirked.  "The _best_  place to be if you have outstanding warrants for your arrest.  Strutting past an oblivious guard?  That's a rush.  Who needs flying when you've got that?"  
  
Balthier's eyes narrowed.  It seemed like he was studying my face.  
  
Vaan interrupted him before he could say whatever was brewing in his head.  "No way!  Nothing beats flying in an airship."  
  
"Agree to disagree."  
  
"What were you hunting?" Penelo asked, and it took me a moment to remember what she was talking about.  
  
"Oh, umm, I think it was some undead thing in the Garamsythe.  Reks and some girl Gwen pointed me in the right direction.  Vaan said you know Gwen, too?"  
  
Her eyes were wide.  "You were that viera she always talked about!  You gave her the necklace!  Remember, Vaan?"  
  
Vaan squinted, trying to think back to seven years into the past.  "The necklace?"  
  
"You gave a little girl a necklace?" Balthier asked, surprised and amused.  
  
I shrugged.  "She provided me a service; she let me to the mark.  I was planning to sell it anyway.  It seemed like a fair deal."  
  
" _That_  necklace!" Vaan exclaimed, remembrance overtaking him.  "She loved that necklace!"  
  
"She kept it, then?"  
  
Penelo shrugged.  "For a while.  Until someone tried to steal it, and she needed money for food.  She cried when she had to get rid of it, though."  She sighed.  "It was the only really nice thing any of us really had."  
  
I squinted.  "I hope she got a good price."  
  
"Migelo - he owns the shop I work..." she stopped, furrowed her brows.  "He owns the shop I _used to_  work at.  He sold it for her, made sure the merchants didn't underpay."  
  
"That was very good of him," Aelia appraised.  
  
"Oi!"  Maeve put her hands on her hips and scowled at me.  "Why didn't I get a necklace?"  
  
I rolled my eyes.  "I didn't have a necklace to spare.  And you didn't help me, you just pestered me."  
  
She pouted.  "Whatever.  You dropped a ribbon, and I kept that."  
  
I held out my hands.  "See?  And you say I never get you anything nice."  
  
"I want a necklace.  Why do I get a shitty ribbon when some bitch we don't even know gets a necklace?" Maeve mumbled to herself, kicking up sand.  
  
Aelia shielded her eyes and looked up.  "Might I suggest we stop for a while?  It appears to be midday and we have yet to eat or drink."


	14. Raithwall's Tomb

The trek took two full days. Two full days across the sweltering sandsea. The oil constructs amplified the sun and frequently blinded us, even with the near-complete coating of rust on their surface. They were also incredibly hot, and those with thinner soles could feel the heat in every step. In spite of Aelia's balm, there were burnt faces all around. Even with some well-placed ice magic, we still had to stop frequently.

We did little speaking. It was too hot, we were too exhausted, and the Urutan Yensa pestered us more persistently when they could hear us chattering.

The nights weren't so bad. It cooled considerably at night, and many of the beasts of the desert left us alone. We sat around the fire, and some of us told stories.

I told a couple stories about hunts or treasures that I remembered particularly vividly. Vaan's eyes lit up when I spoke, so I told a good number of them. Vaan and Penelo's stories were pretty boring, but they told them as if they were exciting. They were the odd story about what might be exciting to a kid who has never been anywhere and never had anything. They liked telling them, so we let them. Aelia told us some stories about Larsa when he was younger and a couple about the Archadian well-to-dos. She never told stories about herself. Every now and then, Fran would cut in with a legend or myth. Most of those stories I knew, but the others weren't quite as versed as vieras, so the stories went over well. I preferred Maeve's stories. Before each and every one, she swore to us that she was telling the absolute truth, and then she would spin a wild tale that could in no way be fact. Each story ended with a punchline, and as she got drunker and drunker, the punchlines made less and less sense but made me laugh harder.

Ashe, Basch, Vossler, and Balthier listened without telling their own stories. I was sure that Basch had good stories to tell, but I don't know that he'd be any good at actually telling them. I couldn't imagine Ashe having many good stories, growing up in the lap of luxury like that, and Aelia had royal blunders covered. Vossler was ill at ease and spoke little in general. I knew that Balthier had stories to tell, but I had a feeling he didn't want to invite questions into his past.

King Raithwall's Tomb was surrounded by steep cliff walls that wrapped around it like a protective shell. We had to walk through a tight ravine before the earth opened up, revealing two rows of columns leading up the the Tomb. And it was a tomb built for a king. The intricate stone and metal work were a sight to behold, but none of us could properly admire the view because out of nowhere came down a giant garuda. It glowed and stared down at us with fury in its eyes.

Fran let off the first attack, a ball of fire toward the beast. It retaliated, and the party scattered about the area. Aelia managed to blind it after a while, and that made it easier on those of us who knew healing magicks. Balthier's gun was effective, and Fran, Aelia, Ashe, and I knew some black magicks, but the rest of the party could only deal damage when we were able to ground the garuda for a few moments.

Basch delivered the final blow, and even as the bird lay motionless on the ground, the group stood tense, waiting for another of King Raithwall's protectors to appear.

None did, and we were able to heal wounds and regroup.

"Well, that was fun," I said, kicking the lifeless garuda in the head one last time to make sure that it knew how distinctly not fun that had been.

"This is it?" Penelo asked, looking up in wonder at the structure.

"Long ago," Ashe said, starting up the long staircase to the entrance of the tomb with the rest of us in tow, "the gods granted their favor to King Raithwall, who would oversee the subjugation of a vast territory spanning from Ordalia to Valendia. Here he forged the Galtean Alliance. Though he is called the Dynast-King, upon establishing the Alliance, he demonstrated compassion for his people, and disdain for needless war. A philosophy passed on to his successors. One that would bring peace and prosperity for hundreds of years to follow. It was during this time of peace that the city-states of Archadia and Rozarria, each members of Raithwall's Alliance, took root and flourished. Raithwall left three relics signifying descent from the Dynast-King. Of these, the Midlight Shard was given to what would become House Nabradia, and the Dusk Shard to my ancestors, the founders of Dalmasca. The last of the relics was the Dawn Shard. It remained hidden here, known only to those of royal blood."

"As though the Dynast-King foresaw the very plight before us now," Vossler cut in.

"None save descendants of the king are suffered within," Ashe continued, barely acknowledging Vossler's interjection. "If we attempt to enter without proof of such lineage-"

"There's no guarantee we'll make it out alive," Balthier said, cutting her off. Everyone turned to him. "Vicious beasts. Fiendish traps. Something like that?"

There was a matter-of-fact quality about his assessment that I admired. Not glorifying the thrill or ignoring it, just taking it as it came. Vaan, on the other hand, was staring with wide eyes at both Balthier and the tomb in front of us, his body practically shaking with anticipation.

Ashe nodded. "But you must consider the prize. The Dawn Shard lies within. And Raithwall's treasure."

Balthier shrugged and said, "And there was I, thinking this was going to be hard!" He smirked, then approached the device at the top of the stairs.

"Ugh, I hate these," I muttered under my breath. We all gathered around it and let its magicks whisk us away to the inside of the tomb.

Slightly dizzy and mildly nauseous, I heard Vaan ask, "What was that thing?"

"A contraption you'd find in all but the most rudimentary ancient ruin," Balthier explained. "One touch and you're whisked to you know not where. The finer points of their operation elude me, but they're handy all the same. What more need a sky pirate know?" He shrugged and walked off.

"I hate these fucking things," I repeated, attempting to shake off their ill effects. I'd never met anyone quite so affected by them as I was. Maybe it was the heights. Maybe it was just me.

"I've always thought they used teleportation stones in their design," Aelia offered, giving the device another look. "Perhaps the people of long ago understood something about them that we have forgotten."

Penelo "hmm"ed thoughtfully. "Maybe that's it. Whatever they are, they're pretty neat."

Once I felt like myself again, I was able to look around the giant chamber we'd been transported to. It was covered in the same intricate designs the exterior had, though the torches cast a warm glow on the metals that was different from the sun's glare outside.

"What's the plan?" Vaan asked, looking around. It looked like there was another teleportation device in front of us and a long bridge that led to a door.

"The magicks of this device are dormant," Fran announced, holding a hand out over the contraption.

"Le's go then," Maeve said, making her way to the door at the other end of the room.

When we had all followed her down the steps to the bridge, we heard a crackling behind us. What we had assumed was just a statue had come alive, and was coming toward us and blocking our path back.

"Fight or run, we better decide fast," Vaan said, shifting his weight nervously from one foot to the other.

Again, Maeve was the first one to make a move. She let out a surprisingly fierce battle cry and lunged at the statue, swinging her axe in a wide, powerful arc and chopping off one of the creature's crustacean-like legs. The rest of us followed suit, Balthier shooting off one of its sword-wielding arms, Penelo and Vaan focusing on its other feet. It had pushed us almost to the door before it suddenly froze, buckled under its own weight, and disintegrated into dust.

"Is everyone alright?" Aelia called to the group.

"I was better before demon walls started attacking us," I muttered under my breath, now looking at every structure with suspicion.

Balthier, who had been standing next to me wiping dust from his cuffs, said, "Can't say I've ever run into anything like that."

"You don't have to sound so impressed," I said, both annoyed and amused at the appreciative tone of his voice. "That thing almost squished us."

He shrugged and moved toward the door behind us. "And yet it didn't."

"Though perhaps we should proceed with more caution as we go deeper into the tomb," Ashe suggested, looking wearily at Maeve who had been the one to charge into danger. When she turned back toward the door, Maeve made a sequence of mocking faces behind her back.

"Let us continue," Vossler urged, and again I noted his uneasiness. But I wrote it off as discomfort at being in such a hallowed place and followed the group through the door.


	15. Solemn Labyrinth

The next chamber was dark. We could see almost nothing by the pale light that streamed in behind us. There was something in the distance, two glowing orbs and a slight scraping sound. One by one, torches lit themselves about the chamber, revealing another demon wall at the far end of the bridge, blocking our way into the tomb.

"The wall comes," Fran announced. "We must be quick! Together we can bring it down!"

We ran down the bridge toward the wall and began to attack. The battle differed little from the one in the other room, though there was a moment when Penelo got knocked into a torch and the wall halted its approach for a few moments and another moment when Vaan was knocked into a different torch and the wall started to move faster. This fight was easier than the last, and we were only halfway back to the door we'd come from when the wall disintegrated.

As I put my lance away, I heard a groan of pain from behind me. I turned and saw Balthier, nursing a bleeding arm. Fran was busy tending to Vossler's injured ankle, and apparently Balthier didn't want to ask for healing from anyone other than his partner. He caught me staring at him and raised an eyebrow, expectantly. "Well, are you just going to bleed all day or are you going to ask for help?" I asked when he continued to stay silent.

He rolled his eyes. "You're going to make me beg?" he asked incredulously, taking a step toward me.

"Not beg," I said, holding my hands out over his arm and channeling a cure spell. I watched as his body relaxed, pain leaving it. I smirked at him. "If you wanted to beg, I wouldn't stop you, though."

His grin as he followed the rest of the group, who had started to move toward the next door, surprised me in its genuine nature. I was still having a hard time figuring out exactly how I felt about Balthier. I remembered seeing him for the first time in the Garamsythe and being enthralled. He'd been suave and kinda fun and handsome as hell. He didn't stop being handsome, but our time in Nalbina and the Estersand had given me a less favorable view of him. As charming as he usually was, he could be rude when it suited him, and he was super arrogant. I couldn't really fault him for the secrets he was very obviously keeping about his past and his intentions, seeing as I was keeping plenty of secrets myself, but it did give me pause. All of this was moot, anyway, since he surely didn't think of me as anything more than another (fairly annoying) member of our ragtag adventuring group.

We came to yet another door which opened into yet another room. I heard Maeve groan and say, "I feel like we're walking in circles." This room was a little different, though. The walls were lined with staircases that spiraled down into darkness, and there was a platform in the center with three teleportation devices.

"Incredible," Vossler breathed, staring at the architecture in awe. He noticed Balthier and Fran standing off by themselves, talking quietly. Vossler grimaced. "It wounds me to look on as they pillage so solemn a place," he said, though we'd yet to really pillage anything.

"Yet without help you and I are as nothing. Is this not so?" Ashe stood closer to him. He growled lowly in response and Ashe continued, "He thinks ever and always on his own profit. Assure him of it, and he shall remain true to our cause."

"I do not share Your Majesty's trust," Vossler replied.

"We will continue this later," Ashe said, stopping her guard from saying anything else. "Now we should concern ourselves with finding the Dawn Shard." Her voice took on a distant quality, and she said, "It sleeps, in waiting. Somewhere deep within."

"How can you be certain?" Vossler asked, examining her face with concern.

"I can hear its call," she replied, surprised at her own answer.

"Majesty," Basch, who had also been listening, said, adopting the same concern as Vossler.

"I'm fine," she assured them, shaking off the thrall of the stone.

"Well, where to next?" Vaan asked, looking around the room. "Do we try those things or do we look for a door?"

Fran and Aelia were already examining the teleportation devices. "These two do not work yet," Aelia said, motioning to far two.

"And I feel this will return us to the previous room," Fran said, holding a hand tentatively over the other.

"So we must try another chamber," Balthier said, his eyes combing the walls. "Left or right?"

Maeve, who was not deterred by her recent scolding, charged ahead to the right. The rest of looked at each other for a moment, all sort of shrugged at her gung-ho attitude, and followed. White seekers flitted about the room, swooping down at us and biting at us. They weren't strong, but they flew and most of the party couldn't attack them so they were a persistent nuisance. Maeve, still in the lead, came upon a fork in the path at the bottom of the staircase. She went straight rather than down more stairs, and the rest of us followed suit. It wasn't like there was a way for us to know which direction would be best; we might as well follow someone unfazed by gut decisions.

"Hey, look!" Vaan said excitedly as we neared the end of the path. He pointed to a treasure chest at the end, just beyond the door to our left, and called, "I'm gonna check it out!"

He ran forward, leaving the rest of us, who had all stopped by the door we intended to go through, behind. Then something on the floor, just in front of the chest, caught my eye: a glimmer of something out place. Recognition hit me like a wave, and I yelled, "Vaan! Wait!"

It was too late. He ran right over the trap, and a burst of needles burst from the floor, the force of it knocking him forward. There were startled exclamations and a few people took a small step forward. I ran up to Vaan, knowing that the area would now be safe. He was on the ground, bleeding, shrapnel covering the side of his body, but he was breathing. I knelt down and started channeling white magic, pouring it into him until I felt my reserves of mana dry up. Vaan's skin pushed the debris out as it sewed itself back up, and slowly his eyes flickered open.

He looked up at me kneeling over him, and I watched his face as he tried to figure out what just happened. He sat up as the rest of the group came over. He began to say, "Hey, thanks Ka-"

I slapped him across the face. Again came startled exclamations from the party, though they were softer this time, and Vaan looked at me in utter confusion.

"What was that for?" he asked, reaching up to rub the reddening spot on his cheek.

I took a deep breath, in and out, and said evenly, "Don't be stupid. You'll get yourself killed." I stood up, walked over to the chest, and kicked it open. Inside was a bit of gil and a quiver of ceremonial arrows. Without making eye-contact with anyone, I walked over to the door and opened it. "Let's go," I called, facing forward.

"What was that about?" I heard Vaan say quietly.

"Come on, Vaan," Penelo replied, more quietly. They underestimated the strength of a viera's hearing. "She was worried about you."

Vossler hmmph-ed in surprise, and I finally heard footsteps approach the door.

The next room was a labyrinth of stairs and corridors, filled with zombies and lesser chimera. We were mostly quiet as we went, occasionally shouting a word of warning during combat. We reached a dead-end; the room had a teleportation device in the middle and on one wall was a pedestal with a glowing crimson jewel.

Vaan took a few steps toward it excitedly, then paused, looked back at me, grinned, nodded, then approached more cautiously. I chuckled, the initial terror of the trap in the last room mostly gone. Vaan reached out and touched the jewel. The light flared, then faded, and behind us a section of wall descended halfway into the ground. It was still too high for any of us to get through to the hallway beyond, so we turned to use the teleportation device, which we all understood without speaking would bring us back to the previous room.

Three zombie mages spawned in behind us, though, and kept us from doing that. One of them managed to burn my arm pretty badly, but they weren't much trouble. I healed myself and turned to the group. "Again?"

"It seems that way," Ashe agreed, moving to the device.

We returned to the other room via device and, when the dizziness and nausea faded, went to the other side of the room to the opposite door. The chest on this side was also trapped, but Balthier saw and avoided it. Inside were gil and jewels. He took them, and we moved on.

As we walked through a very similar labyrinth and fought similar monsters, Maeve came up beside me and said, "I thought of another story. And I swear it is absolutely true."

I clapped my hands excitedly and said, "Please, please, please!" Nothing would break up the monotony of a dungeon crawl like a Maeve Story.

"So," she started, already gesturing grandly, "picture a young Maeve. Well, a younger Maeve. After you came to Giza, before the war. 'Bout the same age as Gams over there." She gestured to Balthier who, to my embarrassment and delight, recognized that he was being talked about and looked over. "You picturing her?"

I smirked. "What was she wearing?"

Maeve paused, thinking back or imagining, I could never tell. "A wedding dress," she finally decided.

I laughed loudly, happy that the story was already ridiculous. "I can picture her. What was she doing?"

"I'll tell ya: younger Maeve was over in the Estersand, at the South Bank village. You've probably been there. Right? You been everywhere, Kar-Bear." I nodded to let her know that I had indeed been there. She continued. "So there's young Maeve, right? Just there to trade some stuff. Young Maeve got sent on a lot of errands, by the way. Everyone else was to scared to travel from Giza to the Estersand. Not this guy." Then she dramatically pointed to herself with her two thumbs.

"It was my influence, obviously," I added. "I inspired you. You'd be nothing without me."

Maeve snorted and punched me in the arm. "Yeah, yeah. You're great and you know it. That's not the story!" We laughed and she continued. "So I'm there, right, and I'm taking a break by the water because, hello, it's the Estersand, it's very hot. And I'm looking out at the water, right, and all of a sudden I see something out there. And I think, 'Hmm, that's weird, this water's usually pretty clear, wonder what that is.'"

"What does it look like?" Penelo asked, coming up beside us, drawn in by the magnetic quality of Maeve's storytelling.

"Now, young Maeve isn't sure, but she thinks it looks kinda like a person," she said, getting low and conspiratorial. "It looked like silver hair was," and here she stared waving like she was seaweed caught in a current, "whirling and swirling underwater. And it looked like an arm was beckoning me forward, under the water."

"What did you do?" Basch's voice surprised us all. He was always so quiet during our nighttime storytelling sessions.

His interruption gave Maeve a second of pause, then she said indignantly, "I didn't do anything. I'm not just gonna swim out into the river because I think some weird underwater lady wants me to. I'm no dummy."

Then Basch surprised us again by chuckling. "No, I don't suppose you are."

This also halted Maeve's story, but she shook it off and said, "So I'm sitting there at the shore, just hanging out and taking a break from my errand, and I guess I'm sitting there for a while because this underwater lady stops what she's doing and just like, ascends out of the water with her hands on her hips and looks down at me." She took on the stance. There was a scattering of laughter from the party. "She says, 'Hey kid! You're supposed to come into the water. What are you waiting for?' And I'm like, 'Why?' That doesn't make any sense, there's nothing in that river for me. And she says, 'There are riches beneath these waves like you cannot imagine.' But young Maeve doesn't give a shit. What's she gonna spend that on? Giza's a small place. Not a lot of shops. So she says no."

"You sweet, innocent child," I said in disbelief. While I didn't think this scenario had ever actually happened, I did believe that Maeve wouldn't have been tempted by unimaginable riches. Truth be told, there was a time that wouldn't have mattered to me either. But that was a long time ago.

"What happened then?" This time it was Vaan asking Maeve to continue.

She shrugged and took a swig of her drink, which still wasn't empty for some unfathomable reason. "Fuck if I know. I woke up on the North Bank village that night and had to wait three days for a boat that would take me back across the river." She scowled, then looked at everyone in the party in turn. "And that is why..." she paused, thinking up a moral, "necessity is the mother of invention."

I laughed loudly and clapped, delighted in every way with the story. Vaan and Penelo laughed, too. Balthier made a face somewhere between confusion, boredom, and amusement. Fran, Ashe, and Vossler remained impassive. Aelia and Basch both smiled, and Maeve noticed the Captain's smile and laughed herself, her face pink from more than alcohol.

By the time the story was done, we'd made our way to the final room. In this one sat a green jewel. Vossler reached out to this one and the light flashed, then faded. This version of the wall that had descended halfway on the other side now sunk fully into the ground, revealing another stairway. Before we could descend, three liches attacked us.

We were expecting something, though, so we were able to defeat them without suffering any significant injuries. When they faded back into the abyss, Penelo looked around at us, then down at the stairwell. "I guess we keep going down."


	16. The Dynast-King's Treasure

The room at the bottom of the stairs was thick with mist.

Penelo looked around in confusion. "Fog? Underground?"

Fran shook her head. "Not fog. Mist."

"You can see the Mist? With your eyes?"

"Where it is thick enough, you may. The nether runs deep in this place."

"So, is the Mist dangerous?" Penelo asked, her eyes darting nervously around the chamber.

"Yes, but it is also an aid. A dense Mist allows the working of powerful magicks," Fran explained.

"I'll keep that in mind. Can't count on Vaan to keep track of these things. That's for sure." Fran and I followed her gaze to Vaan, who was talking with Ashe and Vossler. He was talking animatedly, though his companions did not seem to share his enthusiasm.

My eyes fell back on Fran, then on the swirls of Mist. For a moment I closed my eyes, trying to reach out to the Mist as I might have been able to years ago, but it eluded me. Sure, there was a certain strength to my magicks that I  _could_  feel down here, but it was not what it should have been. Not what Fran's was, I was sure.

I opened my eyes and followed the group down the stairs. There was another platform, and then yet more stairs. This bottom platform was different. Here, the wallswere close, and it was easy to see the intricate carvings on them. At the end of the platform opposite the stairs as a door, closed and guarded by a great beast. With horns and hooves and a giant ax wielded by giant, muscular arms, the creature seemed to sense our approach and came to life. Growling threateningly as fires blazed to life around it, the beast lunged forward at us.

We scattered. Balthier, Fran, Aelia, and Penelo stayed to the outskirts of the platform, using ranged weapons and black magicks to strike while the rest of us approached and flanked it. Not only did it wield a giant ax, but it also was capable of using powerful fire magicks, leaving more than a few of us bleeding and singed.

It was Ashe who finally dealt the final blow, the creature falling to one knee and being consumed by its own flame. Left behind was only a sigil, floating in the air before us. Ashe reached out and touched it, and and it burst into flame and disappeared.

I began to channel white magicks to heal myself, looking around and assessing the damage the fight had done to our party.

As I did, Fran spoke, a hint of wonder in her voice. "In vainglory they arose, shouting challenges at the gods. But prevail they did not. Their doom it was to walk the Mist until time's end. A legend of the Nu Mou."

"My family tells the story of the Dynast-King and an Esper," Ashe said. "The story goes that in his youth, the Dynast-King defeated a mighty gigas for which the gods took head of him. Thereafter it was ever bound to him in thralldom."

"So, all this time it's been here guarding the Dynast-King's treasure," Balthier observed.

Ashe shook her head. "Not so. The Esper  _is_ the Dynast-King's treasure."

" _That_ 's your treasure?" he responded incredulously.

"In this Esper we now command rests a power whose worth is beyond any measure," Ashe continued.

Balthier crossed his arms. "Is that so? Call me old-fashioned, but I was hoping for a treasure whose worth we  _could_  measure."

I had to agree, particularly as it seemed that  _we_  did not command the Esper, Ashe alone did.

"Let's go," Vaan said, running up to the door, in this for the adventure rather than the monetary gains.

"Just a moment, Vaan," Aelia said as she looked about the party. "Is anyone hurt?"

After the few minor burns and scrapes were dealt with, we passed through the impressive doors. The hallways beyond it was long, with ascending and descending stairs that felt like they went on forever.

Maeve turned to me and said, "Kar-Bear, you heard of that legend Fran talked about, too?"

I nodded. "Been a while since I heard it, but yeah, it's familiar."

Maeve pursed her lips in deep thought. "There are other espers like that one?" she asked, remembering Fran's words.

I nodded again. "Supposedly there are thirteen."

"Do you know where any of the others are?" Vaan asked, his eyes gleaming with the promise of adventure.

I shrugged. "I've heard a few rumors, and most of them are vague." I met Fran's gaze and raised my eyebrows in question.

She shook her head. "I know only rumor as well."

"I never thought it was worth investigating," I admitted. "Seemed like a bunch of bullshit, really. Might have to rethink that, now."

Vaan grinned. "I wouldn't mind having an esper."

I snorted and punched him in the arm. "What makes you think we'd trust you with an esper?" When he opened his mouth to protest and claim that we was indeed trustworthy, I said, doing my best Vaan impression, "'Right, Basch?'"

Many in the group laughed, and we reached and used a teleportation device at the end of the hallway. It brought us to another small set of stairs leading up. The room it led to was large, with a high ceiling and far walls. In the center of the room was platform above which floated a glowing sphere. The group approached, many staying far back. I leaned against a pillar, my vantage point giving me a clear view of everyone in the room.

I noticed Vossler's uncomfortable shifting as Basch did. "What's wrong?" Basch asked, eyeing his friend with worry.

Vossler sighed tightly and said, "Your Majesty, we must go."

Ashe nodded and stepped forward, walking up the steps toward the platform. She stopped before she reached the top and breathed, "What?" I wondered who else could hear it; her voice was so soft. She took a shaky breath. "Rasler..."

As I looked around to see if any of my companions understood why Ashe was invoking the name of her dead husband, Vaan exhaled and took a surprised step forward. I watched as his eyes locked onto the platform, or something on the platform that I could not see. Quickly, I scanned the faces of the party to discern if they could all see it; it wouldn't be the first time that my senses were too dull to see what I needed to. Luckily, it seemed only Ashe's eyes locked on to the invisible thing. I saw as the two of them watched  _something_ unseen pass by Ashe and leave the room, Ashe reaching out for it as it passed her.

"You will be avenged," she said under her breath as she fiddled with the wedding ring on her finger. She then noticed that Vaan was also watching the thing go and regarded him curiously. I suppose she grabbed the Dawn Shard when I was looking away because it was in her hand when I looked back.

I thought I saw Balthier's head tilt to the side as he looked up at Ashe, but I couldn't be sure.

"Majesty, we ought to go," Vossler repeated, and she nodded.

We left the tomb, following the trail of teleportation devices out. We stepped out into the sunlight, and I cursed colorfully as a fleet of airships descended on us.


	17. A Fell Mist

"Such a tremendous honour to again be graced with your presence, Majesty," Ghis said as we were brought before him on the Leviathan once more.  I was still feeling a bit dizzy up so high, but I did my best to focus on the man in front of me.  "You left us with such great dispatch upon our last encounter that I must confess I had begun to worry that we may have given Your Majesty some cause for offense."  
  
Ashe narrowed her eyes.  "Such a heartfelt display of remorse," she said tightly.  "Now what is it you want?"  
  
Ghis took two steps forward.  "I want you to give me the nethicite."  
  
"The nethecite?"  Penelo took two steps back, tucking Larsa's gift behind her back.  
  
Ghis gave her a disdainful look.  "That is a base imitation."  He clenched his hand into a fist.  "We seek Raithwall's legacy, the ancient relics of the Dynast-King: deifacted nethicite."  He smirked and turned to Vossler.  "Did you not tell them, Captain Azelas?"  
  
There was something of a collective gasp as Vossler took another step toward Ashe.  "Majesty," he said stoically, "he speaks of the Dawn Shard.  That is the nethicite."  
  
Ashe whirled to face him, and Basch stepped closer.  "Are you mad, Vossler?" he growled.  I could see Maeve seething nearby.  
  
"If we are to save Dalmasca, we must accept the truth," Vossler replied, and though it seemed the words saddened him to speak he did not back down.  "I will fight this profitless battle no more!"  
  
Basch growled low, knowing that there was little he could do now.  
  
Ghis continued smugly, "Captain Azelas has struck a wise bargain.  In return for the Dawn Shard, the Empire will permit Lady Ashe to reclaim her throne, and the Kingdom of Dalmasca will be restored.  Think on it.  An entire kingdom for a stone.  You must admit, 'tis more than a fair exchange."  
  
"And," Balthier said bitterly, "when all is said and done, your master will have another pet."  
  
Ghis narrowed his eyes at the sky pirate and then turned to Ashe with a venomous smile.  "Lady Ashe, let us take him for the people of Dalmasca.  Your Majesty wallows in indecision on peril of their heads!"  Ghis pulled his blade and held it to Balthier's throat, and I think I took a step forward, snarling.  "And his shall be the first to fall."  
  
"Well at least your sword is to the point," Balthier replied, raising an eyebrow at the Judge but otherwise not flinching.  
  
We stood there, tense and unmoving, until Ashe stepped forward and handed him the Dawn Shard.  The movement seemed to pain her, and Ghis's smile did little to lessen that.  
  
"To think the relics of the Dynast-King were deifacted nethicite," Ghis mused, examining the stone.  "Doctor Cid will be beside himself."  
  
Balthier took a step forward.  "What did you say?"  
  
"Captain Azelas," Ghis said, ignoring the question, "take them to  _Shiva_.  They should have leave to return to Rabanastre soon."  As we were being ushered away by armed guards, I heard Ghis say, "I want you to assess its power."  
  
Instead of focusing on the way in front of me, I kept my ears toward the Judge and heard a timid response.  "Did our orders not specify that we return the Stone for testing?"  
  
The doors began to shut behind us as Ghis said, "I will not chance returning with a Stone that is yet unproven."  
  
The doors shut, and I could hear no more of Ghis's plans.  We were shackled but not chained together, which was a small mercy.  A  _very_  small mercy.  The group around me was quiet, the air practically vibrating with anger and tension.  Ashe and Basch both refused to look at Vossler, while Maeve glared at him unrelenting anger.  Balthier was lost in his own thoughts, every muscle in his shoulders and neck tight.  
  
"This ship will shuttle us to  _Shiva_ ," Vossler explained when we reached the docking station on the  _Leviathan_.  When none of us responded, he gave up on trying to talk to us.  
  
To my surprise, Balthier reached a steadying hand out to me as I approached the mesh bridge leading to the small aircraft.  I tried to look at him, tried to focus on his face and work out the expression on it, but I could see the empty expanse of air stretching out beneath us and felt dizzy.  So I shut my eyes tightly, to my eternal embarrassment letting out a small whimper.  
  
"It's just a little farther," he said quietly beside me.  
  
"What are you whispering about?" one of the guards to our right said anxiously.  
  
"She's afraid of heights," Vaan cut in, obviously understanding the situation in a moment.  
  
Vossler, who had come to know this about me during our two day trek across the desert, stepped in.  "Give her a moment," he said to the guard.  
  
I heard Maeve's step approach.  Her walk was easily identifiable due to its unpredictable intoxicated nature.  I felt something brush my ears, then realized it was Maeve sliding her shackled arms around me, pulling them over my head down toward my middle.  It was excessive, but it steadied me.  "I gotcha, Kar-Bear," she said.  
  
She led me into the shuttle, and from behind us I heard one of the guards say, "Not a very good sky pirate, huh?"  
  
"I'm  _not_  a sky pirate," I growled under my breath, and Maeve chuckled beside me.  
  
She set me down on a bench and took her arms back as the rest of the group filed in.  Sitting, I felt safe enough to open my eyes.  Vossler gave me a look that felt like pity, and I snarled at him.  He recoiled a little and joined the pilot.  
  
"Are you alright, Karre?" Penelo asked.  
  
I rolled my eyes and looked down at my shackled wrists.  "Been better.  But I don't feel like I'm gonna plummet to my death right now, so that's a bonus."  But the words brought up a reminder and another wave of dizziness washed over me.  "Well, now that I say that..."  The shuttle took off, zooming toward the larger airship.  I looked at Maeve from the corner of my eye.  "That was pretty stupid, huh?"  
  
"What was?" she asked.  
  
I mimed what I assumed she must have looked like putting her shackled arms over my head.  "I'm sure we both looked badass."  
  
Maeve snorted.  "Hey, it worked, didn't it?"  
  
I smiled, though there was something sad in it.  I nodded.  "Thanks, Maeve."  
  
She elbowed me.  "O'course, Kar-Bear."  
  
We whizzed through the skies and docked with  _Shiva_  very quickly.  This time, Maeve merely held my hand to guide me off the shuttle as I did my best not to pass out or throw up.  
  
As we walked onto  _Shiva_ , Vossler came up beside Ashe.  "When we return to Dalmasca," he started, though Ashe was less-than-receptive, "we can announce that you are alive and well.  I will then continue our negotiations with the Empire.  I believe Larsa is the key.  He'll listen to us.  We should trust him."  
  
Ashe stopped walking and turned to him.  "Who are you, Vossler, to talk of trust?"  She walked away from him.  
  
"A son of Dalmasca," he said under his breath, though he did not follow.  
  
The guards brought us to a large door and began entering a code, but something started happening.  I could feel it,  _something_  in the air, angry and hot and seething.  I looked around for a source, for a reason, but I saw nothing.  
  
Fran could feel it, too.  She began to breathe heavily as though the blood was boiling inside her.  
  
Vaan noticed and took a step toward her.  "Fran?"  
  
"Such heat," she hissed.  "The Mist - it's burning!"  She fell to her knees, and Vaan and Penelo rushed to her sides.  
  
A guard also noticed the strange behavior and ran over.  "You!  Stand!"  He reached out to yank her up, but with a swift motion she knocked him back with incredible strength.  He landed at Vossler's feet.  
  
"Hold her down!" Vossler commanded, but none of the guards approached.  
  
It was only another second before, with a feral scream, Fran burst free of her shackles.  She jumped into the air and kicked the shit out of one guard, and then another.  
  
"What's wrong with her?" Penelo asked as Fran's rampage continued.  
  
"I always knew Fran didn't take well to being tied up," Balthier said as he picked the lock on his shackles, and I felt my face catch on fire.  "I just never knew how much.  How about you?"  He turned to Ashe, who was standing beside him.  
  
"I like Fran's idea," Ashe replied, holding her wrists up to Balthier.  "Let's get out of here!"  
  
There was a scramble to unlock all of our shackles, Aelia surprising me by taking mine, and Vaan turned to look at me, as if suddenly realizing that, if one viera was freaking out because of her sensitivity to Mist perhaps the other would, too.  "You okay, Karre?" he asked, seeing that I was not on a rampage.  
  
"I'm fine," I said quickly, and I felt my throat get tight for a completely different reason.  "Let's go."  
  
"Why aren't you-" Ashe began, catching on to Vaan's line of thinking, but I cut her off.  
  
"I think we have more pressing concerns than my  _level head_ , Princess."  
  
It was not the answer that she wanted, but she agreed.  We started to head back toward the shuttle, hoping to commandeer it, but Vossler stood between us.  "No farther!  Sky pirates!  The future of Dalmasca will not be stolen!"  He raised his blade at us.  
  
Basch stepped forward.  
  
"Why do this, Basch?" Vossler asked.  "This struggle is futile.  You must know where it leads!"  
  
"I do know," he replied solemnly.  "All too well."  
  
And Vossler swung.  The two fought alone, the rest of us hesitant to interfere with what was now a personal battle.  Fran had taken out the rest of the guards and was now leaning on Balthier for support, drained and slightly disoriented.  
  
In the end, Basch stood over Vossler, whose blood began to seep through the leather of his armor.  
  
The rest of us ran toward the shuttle.  Noticing Ashe's hesitation, Balthier called out to her.  
  
"All I have done-" Vossler said, his breath strained, "I've ever thought of Dalmasca first."  
  
"I know you do," Basch said, and I noticed Maeve stop and turn to watch the exchange, too.  "I would ne'er gainsay your loyalty."  
  
"Look on what my haste has wrought," Vossler continued, doubling over.  "Did I act too quick?  Or was your return too late?  I can serve her no more.  You must take up my charge."  
  
Basch nodded, then followed us onto the ship.  Balthier piloted, and I tucked myself away in the back corner, away from the windows.  The ship flew away from the fleet as Mist spilled forth from the  _Leviathan_.  Though I could not see well, I could feel the Mist, which in itself was a testament to its strength, consume the fleet we left behind and spill forth in an explosion.  
  
I screamed as the waves of the explosion rocked our ship, grabbing onto anything I could to secure myself to it.  
  
"This might get a little dicey," Balthier said.  
  
"The Mist," Fran said, clutching her side, "it manifests now."  
  
"Is that what you call this?" Vaan asked incredulously.  
  
We continued to fly, and I felt the Mist begin to cool.  The ship began to turn back, and Penelo, looking out the window, asked, "What's that?"  
  
Ashe gasped, following her gaze.  "I think it's the Dawn Shard."  
  
"Then what are we waiting for?" Balthier asked as he turned the ship to follow the stone as it floated to the ground.


	18. Four Day Trek

Our landing was bad.  I couldn't see anything that happened, but I felt the ship shaking as the engine began to sputter and die.  Balthier and Fran, to their credit, kept us alive and without injury, but there was still shaking and tumbling, and I still ended up screaming as we hit the ground.  Unable to trust that my legs would work, I was the last to leave the airship, and by some beautiful miracle no one said anything to me about it.  
  
Ashe ran forward to catch the Dawn Shard as it floated slowly to the ground.  
  
We were near the Sandsea.  We must have been, given how long we'd been in the air, but it didn't look like the Sandsea.  The land was firm, stone rather than sand, craggy and more grey than the reddish brown a little farther south.  This I could accept.  It was the thick Mist that blanketed the land and the near-complete lack of life around that made me nervous.  It was familiar but wrong.  It shouldn't be like this here.  
  
"The engine is dead," Fran said after a moment poking around the ship's parts.  
  
"We'll have to hoof it from here on out, huh?" Vaan said, peeking over her shoulder at the machinery.  
  
"Where do we go?" Aelia asked.  
  
"That depends on what our next step is, I suppose," Balthier said, leaning up against the ship and crossing his arms.  His eyes slid to me momentarily, and I couldn't tell if he was checking up on my airsick ass or looking for my input, but I was still dizzy and my heart was pounding too hard to think of an answer.  
  
"Regardless of where we decide to go," Basch said, "we must go east.  I do not think Rozarria holds the key to restoring Dalmasca."  
  
It was a good point.  Beyond the Sandsea, beyond Raithwall's tomb, lay Rozarria.  Dalmasca, Archades, and Kerwon were all east, and any of those places seemed to suit our needs better than Rozarria to the west.  "We shouldn't stay here," I said, looking around at the swirling Mists.  "A Mist like this will fuck a place up real fast.  We don't want to be here when that starts happening."  
  
"Then let's go," Maeve agreed, heading off in a random direction.  
  
"Not that way," I called, running after her.  
  


* * *

We stopped to make camp for the night somewhere in the middle of the Ogir-Yensa.  An unpleasant deja-vu sat heavily on all of us, though we didn't speak of it.  Basch was still upset about Vossler's betrayal, and we all felt it instinctively that it would be a bad idea to bring up the time not long ago that we had all been camping together on these very sands.

It was Penelo who turned to me and asked, "You mentioned the Mist where we landed and how it corrupts the land?  How do you know that?"

"There's a similar Mist in the Nabreus Deadlands," I said cautiously, my mind flooding with memories.  "It's... not a good place to be."

"But you've been?" Ashe asked curiously.  I nodded.  "Why?"

"I heard a rumor of a powerful beast locked away there," I said, and something clicked in my head.  "Now that I think of it, it might have been an Esper that we were chasing down."

"'We'?" Aelia asked.

I nodded.  "I was travelling with a bangaa named Horek at the time."  Eyebrows raised around the fire.  "He was a member of the Clan, and we went out together to find this beast and slay it."

"What happened to him?" Penelo asked.

"He died."  I stared into the flames so that I wouldn't have to look at any of my companions.  "Leamonde Entites thrived on that Mist, and it was on us before we knew it.  We ran.  I thought he was right behind me, that we'd use the Gate Crystal to teleport out of there, but he'd fallen, and going back for him would have been suicide.  So I left him there."  A part of me wished that my voice had wavered, that I could show some hint of sadness at the memory, but nothing happened.  I could shed no tears over someone I had fully expected to lose when I'd met him, could shed no tears in front of this group of humes that, even if I knew them for the rest of their lives, I would still outlive.

"Were you friends?" Vaan asked, leaning in.  We'd talked a little about the Clan together, about what it was like to be a part of it, and he was still curious about the community it made.

I snorted at the question.  "Not  _friends,_ " I said.  We hadn't been friends.  We'd only known each other a few days, barely knew each other at all, really.

But Maeve could read the look on my face, and she gasped.  "Karre, were you riding that bangaa's wooly gator?"

Eyes widened around the campfire, and, after taking a few moments to unpack that euphemism, I smirked at her.  "I think there's a rule against kissing and telling, though bangaa aren't all that 'wooly.'"

She leaned forward, mouth slightly open.  "How does it even work??  They have, like, snoots!  How do you kiss them?"

Aelia looked at Penelo and Vaan in horror as she realized these young people were about to get more of an education than they bargained for.

I laughed and said, "I will not give you The Talk, Maeve.  You make it work."  I grinned slyly and said to a now very disappointed Maeve, "He also wasn't the bangaa I'd been with."  Maeve squealed, something between excitement and fear, and I laughed again.  "I've been around a long time.  Just because I haven't had many friends doesn't mean I haven't had  _friends_."

"And with that," Aelia said, standing and shaking her head, "I think it's time for us all to sleep."

Maeve and I were still chuckling when we lay down to sleep.

* * *

"Karre?"  Basch's voice cut through the stifling heat of midday in the Ogir-Yensa, and I turned to him.  He looked uncomfortably around, then said, somewhat quietly, "Could I speak with you?"

I shrugged and fell back to speak with him, far enough away that most of the party, save Fran, wouldn't be able to hear.  "What's up, Basch?"

He watched the group with furrowed brows before he answered.  No, he watched  _Maeve_  with furrowed brows.  I waited for him to speak, trying to work through the emotions that flashed across his eyes.  Eventually, he said, "You and Maeve have gotten close over these past days?"  It was a question, though he knew it was true.

"Yeah, we're pretty close," I agreed, a small smile creeping onto my lips.

He sighed and rubbed his chin.  "I...  May I ask a favor of you?"

"What do you want?" I asked, hoping that it would be a favor that would bring the two closer together rather than farther apart.  Their relationship already seemed better than it had been when we'd found Maeve stowed away on the Strahl.  When she'd slapped him in the face and he hadn't recognized her.  I supposed it wasn't saying much that their relationship had improved, but I still had hope for my friend.

There was another pause as Basch worked for the right words.  "I'm not sure exactly what I've done to her," he admitted, and the deep shame in his voice was clear.  "I... I wish to make it right, but I'm not sure how."

"And it'd be a bad idea for you to ask," I agreed, and he looked relieved that I felt as he did.

"Yes, I think so.  I had hoped for your help in this."

He looked at me almost pleadingly, and it was such an odd image to me that I stopped walking.  The death and betrayal of his old friend still weighing heavily on him, Basch had decided to try to right another source of grief in his life rather than retreating to a safe place of strength.  It was then that I really understood Maeve's devotion to this man, distorted as it might have become after that night of the treaty signing.  Even if I had not already decided to do this for my friend, I would have done it for him.

He was still waiting for my answer, so I nodded.  "Uhh, yeah.  Of course.  I mean, I've got some ideas, but she hasn't actually said anything to me yet.  But I'll ask and see what I can do."

A small smile from Basch, and he said, "Thank you, Karre.  She's lucky to have you."

I scoffed and waved a hand as I started walking again.  "Yeah, yeah.  Don't mention it."

* * *

The next day, due to a wrong turn and a blistering heat, we only managed to got as far as the border between the Westersand and the Ogir-Yensa.  When we were setting up camp, I turned to Maeve and said, "Hey, you."

She turned away from the fire she'd just started and looked at me.  "What's up, Kar-Bear?"

I inclined my head away from the group.  "Let's go for a walk."  I'd waited to talk with her for Basch.  I wasn't sure if she'd noticed that he'd pulled me aside yesterday, but I didn't want it to be too obvious that I was spying for him.

She raised an eyebrow.  "Secret walk mission with Karre?  Sign me up."  She hopped to her feet.

I snorted and rolled my eyes.  "Yeah, yeah.  Come on."  I caught a couple displeased looks as the two of us got out of setting up camp, but I also caught Basch's grateful nod, so I didn't let the other looks faze me.  We walked over the giant metal construct and sat on the ramp.  The metal was still quite warm from its long day in the sun, but it didn't burn our asses, so we didn't mind.

"What are we doing over here?" she asked, squinting at me as if looking harder would allow her to read my mind.

I leaned back a little and looked up at the sky.  "Just a conversation I thought might be better had away from prying eyes and listening ears."  I caught a hesitant smirk out of the corner of my eye.  I sighed and started, "I'm just trying to piece everything together the right way.  Now, I know you were mad at Basch because you thought he killed the King."  She looked quickly away from me at the sound of his name.  "Is... that it?  It seems like it's more than that."

Before answering me, she took a long drink from the flask at her hip, which must have been warm and disgusting by now.  She took a deep breath and said softly, "No, that's it."  She started making shapes in the sand with her boot rather than look at me.  "Nothing else ever happened between us."

I nodded.  Her tone was enough to confirm what I'd suspected: she'd been in love with her captain and he'd barely noticed her.  She was in love with him when he betrayed her, and that made it so much worse.  I reached an awkward hand out and wrapped my arm around her shoulders.  "Sorry."

"'S stupid," she muttered, kicking at the sand again.  "I knew it was stupid.  Didn't matter, though."

"Never does," I agreed.  It wasn't hard to agree with her when I was currently nursing a crush on a dashing sky pirate who I knew thought little of me.

Maeve let her head fall on my shoulder.  "And now here I am, being stupid all over again."

I squeezed her shoulder.  "I'm sure it'll all work out this time," I said, trying not to sound too much like I had inside scoop that I was hiding from her.  "This time, you've got me in your corner."

She snorted.  "Ditto."  She was quiet for another long moment, then said, "Thanks, Karre."

We sat there for a while in silence, relishing the distant sounds of our companions and the easy, knowing quiet we'd fallen into.

It was Maeve who broke that silence.  "Karre, I  _gotta_  know how you and that bangaa worked.  I can't stop thinking about it."

The sound that came out of my mouth was somewhere between a laugh and a groan, and I stood.  "Let's go."

"But Karre!" she whined.

I shook my head and walked away, and Maeve followed after.  I caught Basch's eye when we returned to the campfire and gave him a small nod.  I'd found out what he wanted to know, and I'd tell him later.  We sat down and I said, "I told a story last night.  Whose turn is it, tonight?"

* * *

I actually didn't get a chance to pull Basch aside the next day.  A sandstorm hit the Westersand, and we had to huddle in a cave until it passed, which took practically all day.  We also had to huddle at the very edge of the cave because we'd tucked ourselves into the Zertinan Caverns, which were filled with monsters much stronger than we were equipped to deal with.  So we sat, sandwiched between powerful monsters and a fierce sandstorm, in close quarters telling stories and waiting in silence.  The next day, a full day under the Westersand sun, was somehow easier, and I pulled Basch aside in the morning.  "Hey, Captain."

"Yes?"  He watched me hesitantly but without fear.  He worried about what I had to tell him, but he needed to know regardless.

My eyes flicked to Maeve, who was saying something to Aelia that made the nanny's face twist in horror, and I couldn't help smiling a little.  "So, I don't know if I have the answer you want," I started.  "We  _did_  talk, but I don't think I should tell you what she said."

Basch's face fell slightly, but he nodded.  "I understand.  Thank you, anyway."

"I don't think I should tell you," I started again, "because I think she'll tell you herself."  His eyebrows raised.  "Not yet, of course.  She's still working through it.  But I think she's getting there.  And when she's ready, you'll know."  I smirked.  "I'll encourage her, if I need to, but I kinda think I won't have to."  Basch stared at me for long enough that I raised an eyebrow.  "Why are you looking at me like that?"

He smiled, and it seemed like the smile surprised him.  "For someone who just the other night claimed not to have friends, you certainly understand what it means to be one."

I elbowed him and rolled my eyes, feeling my face turn pink.  "Shut up."


	19. Giza in the Rains

Four days after the sinking of the Leviathan, we sat around in a storeroom off the bazaar in Rabanastre.  Apparently, it belonged to Migelo, and he had been more than willing to let his street rats use it when they came home alive.  We'd showered and cleared away what had turned out to be six days of desert caked onto our skin.  Now, we sat together, wondering what to do.  
  
"So it was the Dawn Shard that brought down the Imperial fleet," Basch said as summary and to ensure that he understood exactly what had happened over the Sandsea.  
  
"You know your stuff," Balthier said.  
  
"Destructive power of such force - I've seen it once before," Basch continued, and he looked at me.  "Karre said as much when we landed.  Lady Ashe, you also know of what I speak."  
  
"Nabudis," she breathed, remembering.  
  
He nodded.  "The capital of Old Nabradia - Lord Rasler's fatherland.  At the time of the invasion, a division of Imperials entered the city.  There was a mighty explosion.  Friend and foe died alike.  Something was there - one of the Dynast-King's relics.  The Midlight Shard was in Nabradia."  
  
Balthier leaned against a wall and put a hand on his hip.  "More nethicite.  Well, no wonder they invaded."  
  
Ashe picked the Dawn Shard off the table beside her and stared at it.  "That ridiculous war, the trap at the treaty-signing - all this because Vayne wanted power," she said through gritted teeth.  "He must not be allowed to claim the nethicite.  The Empire must never hold it."  
  
"Oh?  They already do."  Balthier crossed his arms.  "The Dusk Shard, most likely the Midlight Shard, too.  Besides, can't they manufact nethicite now?"  
  
Ashe stood.  "Very well, then the path set before us is clear.  We'll use the Dawn Shard to fight them!  Dalmasca does not forget kindness nor ill deed done.  With sword in hand she aids her allies.  Sword in hand, she lays to rest her foes.  This nethicite I hold must be my sword.  I will avenge those who have died."  Her hands tightened into fists.  "And the Empire will know remorse."  
  
It wasn't a bad speech, but the silence after lost its gravitas when Vaan asked from his perch atop a barrel, "You even know how to use it?"  
  
"I-" she began, but faltered.  
  
"The garif may know," Fran said.  She looked off into the distance.  "The garif people live by the old ways.  Magicite lore is a part of their culture.  They may hear it.  The cry of the nethicite's power."  She stood and turned dramatically back to the group.  "Whispers of the Stone's menace."  
  
"Dangerous though it may be," Ashe said, ignoring the humor in Fran's dramatic display and walking up to her, "what we need now is power.  Should we declare Dalmasca free without the means to defend our claim, the Empire would crush us.  You must take me to meet with the garif."  
  
Fran looked over Ashe's shoulder at her partner.  "They live beyond Ozmone Plain."  
  
Balthier shrugged and stepped forward.  "Not exactly close."  
  
Ashe sighed.  "Compensation - is that what you want?"  
  
"Straight to the point, aren't we.  I like that.  Compensation?  How about the ring?"  He held out his hand for the ring that Ashe spent much of her time twisting around her finger.  
  
"This?"  Ashe took a step back.  "Isn't there something else?"  
  
Balthier shrugged, hand still outstretched.  "No one's forcing you."  
  
There was a tense, silent moment as Ashe stared at the ring on her finger.  It was with some effort that she slid the ring off her finger and dropped it in Balthier's hand.  
  
Balthier took it and put it in a pocket.  "I'll give it back to you.  As soon as I find something more valuable."  
  
Ashe walked away, shoulders tense, and Vaan stepped up.  "What do you mean, 'something more valuable'?"  
  
"Hard to say," he said, following Ashe out the door.  "I'll know when I find it."  Without turning back to look at him, Balthier continued, "What is it you want, Vaan?  What are you looking for?"  
  
"Me?  What am I looking for?  I guess - well, I - you know..." he stumbled through as everyone else filed out of the store room and into the bazaar.  
  
I slapped him on the back.  "Come on, kid."  
  
He nodded at me, and we left too.  
  
Outside, Basch said, "The garif are said to dwell in Kerwon."  
  
Balthier nodded.  "So they do.  We'll need to head south, past the Giza Plains."  
  
"It is the Rains now in Giza," Basch added.  "The wadis will be swollen with the deluge.  Passage may be difficult."  
  
"But those same waters may also lay open new routes to us," Balthier countered.  
  
"Regardless, we must go south, yes?" Ashe asked, impatient.  
  
"First things first," Balthier cautioned.  "You're eager to be on your way, I know, but we should see that we're prepared before setting out."  
  
"I made my resolve two years ago," Ashe said, and I rolled my eyes.  "I swore to overcome any hardship I may face."  
  
"Man cannot live by resolve alone, Princess," Balthier said.  
  
I took a deep breath and announced, "I'll meet you guys at the Southgate."  
  
"Private business to attend to?" Balthier asked, one eyebrow cocked.  
  
There was an anxiety in Ashe's eyes, and a different anxiety in those of Vaan and Maeve, so I added with a roll of my eyes, "I just slipped out of Nalbina.  I'm not going to rat you guys out, and I'm coming back.  I just...  I have an errand to run."  
  
"Alone?" Maeve asked, pouting at me.  
  
I nodded.  "Alone."  Unable to withstand her very sad eyes, I added, "I'll be right back.  I promise."  
  
After another measured look, Balthier nodded.  "At the Southgate, then."  
  
"Shouldn't take long.  Get your supplies, and I'll meet you there."  And I nodded again and set off, walking northward toward Rabanastre's residential district.  The years continued to change the buildings and their occupants, but it was always the same.  No new pile of stone could change it so much that the memories would fade.  My apartment was empty, as it always was.  I grabbed another pouch of gil and my water-resistant cloak.  It was blue with delicate purple embroidery along the edges and a couple of small gemstones sewn in as well.   _Nearly_  practical, which was what I liked.  
  
I did not linger in that place.  I went right to the store that had once, years ago, sold me that cloak.  The owner was not the same, but the stock was.  I flipped through and grabbed eight other cloaks that would protect us from the chill of the rains in Giza.  I paid for them, with a comfortable amount of gil left over, and went to wait at the Southgate.  
  
I wasn't waiting long before my companions showed up.  Maeve smiled widely at me, and Balthier raised an eyebrow as if he had expected until this moment that I would not actually return.  Vaan ran up to me.  "What was the errand?"  
  
I motioned to the stack of cloaks draped over my arm.  "Protection for the rain.  And I needed more gil."  
  
I rifled through the stack while everyone else came up beside us.  I pulled out the grey one and handed it to Vaan.  "This one's yours."  The yellow and copper one was on top, so I handed it to Penelo.  The black one went to Fran, the dark green to Aelia, the dark red-brown to Basch, the brighter red to Maeve, the beige to Ashe, and the green and gold to Balthier.  
  
"Thanks, Kar-Bear!" Maeve said as she put on the cloak and spun around, showing it off.  I grinned.  
  
"This was a very thoughtful thing to do," Aelia said appreciatively, feeling the oddly textured fabric.  "Thank you."  
  
I shrugged, pulling my own hood up.  "I'm thoughtful like that."  Balthier looked at his cloak for long enough that I said, "Is it not your color?  Should I get a different one?"  
  
He shook his head shortly, brows furrowed.  "How much did you pay for this?"  
  
"Why?  Do you think I overpayed?  Is that one bad?  I checked them over quickly, but I might have missed something."  I leaned forward to inspect the cloak.  
  
He huffed, not keen on being misunderstood.  "No, I want to pay you back for this."  
  
I laughed and shook my head.  "No.  It's a gift.  Take it."  He opened his mouth to protest again, and I added, "I literally will not let you give me gil for this.  It's a gift."  Then, barely thinking about it, I slapped him on the arm and turned toward Giza.  "Let's get going.  I don't want to sleep on the Plains tonight."  
  
We left Rabanastre and entered the Plains, felt the rain begin to fall on our heads, and I was grateful that Maeve waited at least until there was some conversation and battle to come up beside me and snicker.  "Let me die in peace, please," I said to her, groaning.  
  
She could barely speak because she was laughing so loud, but she managed to say, "You just slapped him in the arm."  
  
I groaned again, more loudly this time.  "I panicked.  It was so bad, right?"  
  
And soon we were both laughing, both having trouble breathing and keeping up with the group because of my stupid inability to interact with people.  They let us, left us alone as long as we didn't fall too far behind.  We really did almost calm down completely, but then we ran into a wooly gator, which Maeve pointed to and loudly called "the sex monster," and then we were off again.  
  
It felt good.  It felt good to laugh without restraint with this woman who had become my friend, who had become so incredibly dear to me.  It felt good to laugh and forget the memories that I left behind in Rabanastre.  
  
It was getting dark by the time we reached the southern edge of Giza, and we set up camp at the northern edge of the Ozmone Plain, out of the miserable wet of Giza.


	20. Jahara

I woke up in the middle of the night.  For the fourth time.  I sat up and groaned quietly, putting my head in my hands.  I took a few deep breaths as the dream slipped away.  
  
While the cloaks had kept us from truly succumbing to the chill of Giza's rains, we were still colder than usual which led to a tighter grouping while we slept which led to Maeve snuggled up beside me, arms wrapped around my middle.  I didn't mind.  Not really.  I didn't mind the warm body beside me, the hume that clung to me while she slept.  It was the memories that she brought back, the memory of that other warm, hume body that once clung to me.  
  
I turned to lie back down, but I noticed Balthier sitting up and looking at me.  It must have been his watch, and he must have noticed me sit up while looking for approaching dangers.  When we made eye-contact, he raised an eyebrow in silent question.  I shrugged, unsure how else to brush off the inquiry, to let him know that I was fine, just reliving my past.  His eyebrow lifted slightly higher, but I just nodded, a silent "good-night" and lay back down as Maeve instinctively felt the warmth return to her side and reached out.  
  
He approached me the next day.  It was late morning and we were deep in our trek across the Ozmone Plain when he sidled up beside me.  "Sleep well?" he asked.  He had an eyebrow raised again, but his mouth wasn't curved in a smile.  Not mocking, then.  
  
I sighed.  "I'm... not used to sleeping in tight quarters like that.  Anymore.  It brought back memories.  You caught me after dream number four."  
  
"Bad memories?" he asked.  
  
"No," I said, and I meant it.  "Just bad ones to wake up from."  
  
It was then that a slight smile found its way onto his face, and he asked, "Dreams about a certain bangaa?"  
  
I let out a bark of laughter, sharper and louder than I would have liked.  "Everyone's having a hard time with that, huh?"  I shook my head, still chuckling.  "No.  Not bangaa."  He waited for me to continue, to tell him who I might be dreaming about who I held such a strong affection for, as if I would just spill that secret casually.  When he became sure that I would not tell him, he started to walk away, but I said, "Hey."  He turned back.  "Thanks."  
  
His brows furrowed.  "For what?"  
  
I felt my face turn red.  "For checking in.  It means...  It's not nothing.  So thanks."  
  
I thought the slightest pink crept into his cheeks as well though that hardly made sense, and he nodded.  "Of course."  
  
We were at Jahara before noon, and we approached the two garif standing watch, guarding a bridge to the garif settlement.  They looked as I remembered them: muscular, with intricate, horned masks and thick brown fur.  
  
"Who are you?" one of them asked.  "This is garif land.  No place for hume-children to play at games."  
  
Before we could respond, a voice from behind us said, "They are wayfarers.  They bring no harm."  We turned to see another garif walking toward us from the plain.  "I saw them cross the Ozmone Plain.  They are warriors of great distinction.  The fiends of the plains troubled them not at all."  I frowned because I had not noticed him while we were out there.  
  
"You ventured upon the plains alone, War-chief?" one of the guards said disapprovingly.  "Again?"  
  
The war-chief did not respond to his friend but turned to us and asked, "What business have you with the garif?"  
  
Vaan spoke up and said, "We're just here to ask some questions."  
  
The war-chief turned back to the guards and said, "Let them pass.  The responsibility will be mine."  
  
"If this is your wish, War-chief," one of the guards said.  "Then, you may pass.  These days see many humes wandering through our lands."  They stepped aside to let us pass.  
  
At the other end of the bridge, the war-chief turned to us.  "Ah, I have not made introductions.  I am Supinelu, War-chief of this village.  We garif have been friends to all since long ago, however, lately the hume world is in much turmoil.  We must protect our village, and our people.  As War-chief and protector of our village, I ask you: why have you come to this land?"  
  
Vaan stepped up again.  "We have some questions to ask about nethicite, and we thought you might have some answers."  
  
Supinelu gave a thoughtful pause then said, "I see.  So you too have come to ask about the nethicite.  You must speak with the elders."  I almost asked who else had come, but he kept talking.  "Though our masks may make it difficult for you to tell us apart, walk through the village and look with your eyes, listen with your ears."  And then he walked away, leaving us to fend for ourselves in the village.  
  
"You taking point on this one, Vaan?" I asked, crossing my arms and thinking about how little I want to run around this village talking to people who may or may not have the answers we needed.  
  
He nodded, taking responsibility for finding who we needed to talk to.  He, Ashe, Penelo, Aelia, and Basch walked off to find our contact.  I think Balthier spotted a garif vendor, an oddity in and of itself, and he and Fran went off to check out his wares.  Maeve and I stood in the middle of the village and waited.  
  
Then Maeve leaned into me and whispered, "You ever ride one of  _their_  woolly gators?"  
  
I snorted, and I should have seen that coming.  I grinned at her.  "No, but I'm not opposed to it."  
  
She squeezed my arm, and we laughed.  
  
I wondered for a moment what this journey would have been like without Maeve, if I would have stayed without her here.  Before her sudden and explosive arrival into our party, I had begun to form a bond with Vaan.  That bond still existed, but it was not what this was.  I wondered if it would have become something like this if Maeve had never stumbled onto the Strahl, or if she had stumbled out if it long after we had left it.  
  
It looked like she was about to ask what I was thinking about, but Balthier and Fran returned.  Balthier walked up to me and held out a hand.  "A gift.  For you."  
  
I looked at his hand and the bracelet that rested in it.  It was silver with blue jewels in it, and the metal had a pattern carved in.  I looked up with wide eyes at his face, which had just the hint of a smirk on it.  "Why?" I asked, picking up the bracelet and looking at it more closely.  
  
"Someone traded it to that merchant for a handful of potions.  He doubted he was going to be able to sell it to his people.  I practically stole it from him I got it so cheap."  His grin got a little bigger as mine did.  "Plus, I thought you would like it.  It's very  _you_."  
  
I hesitated for another moment, looking at the bracelet and then at him a few times before saying, "I have a feeling that this is your sneaky way of trying to pay me back for that cloak and not be in my debt or something, but I like this bracelet too much to argue."  
  
His answering grin, a self-satisfied but not mean-spirited one, was more beautiful than the bracelet, and he said, "As I thought you might."  
  
I laughed and put the bracelet on.  "Thanks."  
  
He shrugged off the gratitude as Vaan came up to us.  "We have to talk to the Great-chief, and we have to talk to Supinelu to do that."  He had a weird looking stick in his hand, but we didn't ask about it.  
  
We walked through the village toward the next bridge.  Supinelu was there, and Vaan ran up to him, holding out the stick.  The garif looked down at the stick and said in disbelief, "The High-chief has given this... to me?"  He nodded once to himself.  "I shall receive it.  I thank you for bringing it to me.  Now, did you learn what you wished?"  He paused only for a moment before saying, "No, do not tell me.  It is written clear upon your face.  So, even the High-chief could not help.  Then, you must meet with the Great-chief.  Yes...  It is true.  The Great-chief may know something that would aid you.  Yet, arranging an audience may be quite difficult..."  
  
It was then that Ashe stepped forward.  "I must learn more about the nethicite.  I cannot turn back now.  Please, tell your Great-chief that I am of the royal line of Dalmasca, a direct descendant of Dynast-King Raithwall.  If the garif have passed down knowledge of the Stones, they must know of the nethicite that the Dynast-King once held."  
  
Supinelu cocked his head to the side.  "Do you have  _proof_  of your heritage?"  
  
"I..."  Ashe looked down, ashamed.  "I do not."  
  
The War-chief studied her for a moment more, then said, "I have looked into your eyes and seen that you speak the truth, hume-child.  I give you my trust.  The Great-chief is ahead, across this bridge."  
  
"Thank you."  Ashe nodded gratefully.  
  
We crossed the bridge to a campfire, and sitting at it was a garif with a much more intricate mask.  He inclined his head to us in greeting, and Ashe stepped forward, holding the Dawn Shard out to him.  He took it to inspect it as she said, "Great-chief, I have come seeking answers about the nethicite.  I was told you might have them."  The rest of us took up places around the fire.  
  
The garif looked over the stone and said, "This nethicite - you have used it."  It was not a question.  
  
"It was not I who used it," Ashe said defensively.  "Indeed I had hoped you could show me how.  Thus I've come."  
  
He turned his gaze to her.  "You do not know the workings of the Stone.  Then we are no different."  
  
"What?"  
  
The garif stared into the fire and began, "In ages past, the gods made a gift of nethicite to my people.  But the manner of its use eluded us.  Displeased by our failure, the gods took back their Stones.  They chose instead to give them to a hume king.  Called the Dynast-King, he used the nethicite's power to bring peace to a troubled time."  He tilted his head thoughtfully.  "It is a curious thing.  Though the blood of Raithwall flow through your veins, you cannot wield nethicite."  
  
Ashe took a step forward in distress.  "Cannot wield it?  So then, am I to understand that you can't tell me how to use the Stone?"  
  
The Great-chief turned his attention back to her.  "Though it shame me so to admit.  Here before me stands a descendant of the Dynast-King himself, and I can accord her no help at all.  Still, even if you knew how to use the nethicite, you would find it of small avail."  He handed the Stone back to Ashe.  "The Mist collected in the Stone over ages past is lost, and with it the Stone's power.  It will be your posterity who wield the Stone in ages yet to come.  This Stone is devoid of power.  Empty, yet full of thirst.  A terrible longing to drink the world dry.  The power of men, and of magick.  Of good, and of evil.  It is often those who desire nethicite whom the nethicite itself desires."  
  
I was so wrapped up in the Great-chief's words that I almost missed the approaching footsteps, too small and soft to be garif.  I turned by head just as Penelo gasped.  Aelia stepped forward.  "Larsa?"


	21. Never Again

The young lord smiled at us.  "Hello, everyone."  Aelia ran up to him, and he allowed her to pull him into a hug.  
  
I crossed my arms and grinned.  "Their earlier visitor asking after the nethicite, then?"  They'd told us that someone else had come, but we hadn't asked who.  It made sense that the young Archadian would have been the one, meddlesome as he apparently was.  
  
He nodded to me, then turned to Ashe, "Lady Ashe, I am on my way to Mount Bur-Omisace.  I would ask that you accompany me."  
  
Ashe's brows furrowed.  "To Bur-Omisace?"  
  
Larsa nodded again.  "I say we ought leave tomorrow.  I was going to wait for my escort to return, but meeting you here presents a great opportunity."  He walked right up to her.  "This terrible war can be stopped, but I will need your help to do so."  
  
"A war?" Ashe said.  We knew that things were bad, but they hadn't seemed quite so dire.  Were we really on the verge of another war?  
  
"You know the Marquis Ondore leads a group of insurgents-" he began, but checked himself.  "Your pardon, he leads a large resistance force against the Empire.  Lady Ashe, neither of our countries can afford this now.  The Rozarrian Empire would stir.  They would aid the Resistance and use this aid as a pretext to declare war on Archadia, and Archadia would have no choice but to answer."  As Ashe still wasn't convinced, Larsa continued, "Lady Ashe, let us go to Bur-Omisace.  With the blessing of His Grace the Gran Kiltias Anastasis you may rightly wear your crown, and declare the restoration of the Kingdom of Dalmasca.  As queen, you can call for peace between the Empire and Dalmasca and stop Marquis Ondore."  
  
At this, Ashe finally responded.  She scoffed and recoiled slightly.  "For peace?  How dare you say that!  The Empire attacked us, stole all we hold dear, and you would have me save them from war?"  
  
"Dalmasca would be the battlefield!" Larsa countered, and Ashe checked herself slightly.  "What if nethicite were used on Rabanastre?  You know my brother would do this!"  
  
Ashe made a slow intake of breath and took a step back.  
  
Larsa watched her for a moment, waiting for a response, but when none came he said, "Forgive me, I presumed overmuch.  I could think of no other way to avoid bloodshed."  Then there was a small, mischievous glimmer in his eyes as he added, "If you cannot trust me, then please, take me as your hostage."  
  
Aelia interjected, "Regardless, I think neither of us are ready to depart quite yet.  We will have time to consider."  She turned to the Great-chief.  "Might we infringe on your hospitality and stay the night here rather than on the plains?"  
  
The garif nodded.  "Of course.  It would be no inconvenience."  
  
She bowed slightly to him, and I saw a sliver of the Archadian she used to be.  "Thank you, Great-chief."  
  


* * *

The garif were generous hosts, and though they as a people were not materialistic, their own respect for hierarchy worked to our advantage, travelling as we were with the Princess of Dalmasca and the son of Emperor Gramis.  Aelia and Penelo spent the evening talking with Larsa, asking how he had fared since they had last seen him.  Aelia's eyes shone with pride at the young lord, and with every minute that passed I understood her a little better, understood why she traveled with the rest of us.  In a lot of ways, she made him.  She nannied him and taught him and shaped him to be who he was, then she was ripped away from him by Vayne, threatened by the capable and virtuous young man he was becoming.  She fought with us because she still believed in him, because she would do anything to see that capable and virtuous young man in a position to do good and the man who had tried to stop her out of power.

I wondered what it would be like to believe in something like that.  Never in my long life had anything so noble, anything with any impact on Ivalice, stirred anything in me like that.

Maeve understood.  When she wasn't too drunk or was drunk enough, she looked at Basch like that.  She believed in that man, also virtuous and capable, and she wanted to be by his side, helping him succeed.

I wasn't here for that.  I was here because I'd forgotten how to smile and mean it for too long, and this group of people reminded me how.  I wasn't here because I believed in Ashe, because I cared about who ruled Dalmasca.  I was here because I was selfish and lonely.

I stood.  Basch, beside me, looked up.  "Are you alright, Karre?"

I shrugged.  "Need to take a walk, I guess.  Clear my head or something.  I'll be back."

* * *

"I will accompany you to Mt Bu-Omisace," Ashe was saying to Larsa.

"I had hoped you'd say yes.  I am glad," Larsa said, grinning.

"My heart is not set.  I still have questions.  I hope to find answers along the way."

Larsa nodded.  "I had other reason to invite you.  There is someone I'd like you to meet waiting on Bur-Omisace."

"Who is that?" Ashe asked.

"An enemy, and an ally also," Larsa said, a mischievous grin on his face.  "You will just have to wait and see for yourself."  He turned around and started walking off, and Aelia chuckled and walked after him.

"That Larsa likes his secrets," Vaan mused.

"He does not mean ill by it," Ashe protested, a smile on her face as well.

"He's not bad," Vaan agreed.  "At least for an Imperial."  He, Ashe, and Penelo followed after Larsa and Aelia and stopped to talk to Supinelu.

"Holy Mt Bur-Omisace stands at the northern end of the Jagd Ramooda," Basch said to the rest of us, talking through the plan aloud.  "Once we're in jagd, we need not fear pursuit by their airships."

"Don't get your hopes up," Balthier said, stepping forward.  "You remember the  _Leviathan_  sailed straight over the Jagd Yensa, right up to Raithwall's tomb.  Skystone that works even in jagd.  You know nethicit's behind it.  Little wonder they're so keen on the stuff."

It was then that I realized where our path would take us, the route we would need to go to reach Bur-Omisace, and I felt the world give out beneath me.  I don't know how I managed to stay on my feet, how no one noticed that all the air had been knocked from my lungs at the realization.  Years of lying and hiding my true feelings at work, no one said anything to me.

Instead, Basch turned to Balthier and asked, "And what is it you're after, Balthier?  You're a welcome hand, and a great aid, but why?"

"Worried I'm out to steal the nethicite, eh?  Can't say I'm unaccustomed to people doubting my intentions," he replied, and I could barely tell through the roaring in my ears that the bravado in his voice was hollow.  Though he tried not to seem it, he was painfully serious when he replied, "Nothing could be further from my mind.  Shall I swear by your sword or some such?"

Basch was silent for a moment as he weighed the sky pirate's answer, but he nodded.  "Apologies.  But I needed to know where you stand.  Her Majesty depends on you.  And you seem to have an interest in the Stone."

With another hollow smirk, Balthier replied, "I'm only here to see how the story unfolds.  Any self-respecting leading man would do the same."

We followed after the rest of the party, and every movement I made felt mechanical.  My mind was separate from my body as we moved east across the plains.  I hear but did not comprehend the conversations and laughter of Larsa, Vaan, and Penelo, the serious talks between Ashe and Basch, the excited exclamations of Maeve.

My legs continued to move me closer and closer until we we stood just before where Golmore and Ozmone met.  I saw the pillars that led into the jungle, saw the twisting vines and ferns, and my legs stopped moving.  I stared ahead, gripping my lance so hard that the wood groaned in my hands.  "Never again," I breathed, the words meant to assure me.

It was Vaan who noticed that I was not following, that I had stopped and now stood back, shaking and staring and breathing too quickly.  "Karre?  What's wrong?" he asked, taking a few steps back toward me, a few steps away from that place.

The rest of the group also stopped walking, also turned back to me.  "Kar-Bear?" Maeve asked.

I took a shaky step back, then another.  Tears began to fill my eyes before I could stop them, before I could clamp down on this terror and hide it away as I had always done.  I shook my head.  "Never again," I repeated, still seeking strength from those words.  "I swore.  Never again."  Memory after memory flashed in my head, and I tried to shut out the broken girl that had fled from these trees so many years ago.  I tried to take another step back, but my weak, shaking legs were too weak, and I fell to my knees.

The group in front of me grew silent, then Fran stepped forward.  Her step was sure but soft.  She knelt before me, waiting until my eyes focused on hers before saying, "We will only be passing through.  We will not linger."  When her words did not stir confidence in me, she put a hand on my arm.  "I promise you this."

There was a certainty in her red eyes that I barely believed.  This viera who had left the Wood behind, who still felt the Mist as she ought to and who was still what she ought to be, was kneeling before me.  She was not afraid.  She must see through me, must understand what I lacked at least as well as I did, and she was not afraid.

Still shaking, I got to my feet.  With my lance still gripped tightly, I nodded to Fran, the only thanks I could now give her, and turned back to the jungle.   _You took everything from me_ , I thought, not daring to say the words out loud.   _You will not take this.  You will not take the first light I have found since my world was ripped away from me a second time.  You will not take this_.

And I walked into Golmore jungle.


	22. The Jungle Denies Our Passage

It had been over a hundred years since I'd walked among these trees, but they were still just as I remembered them.  I tried hard to forget the last time I had seen them, but the memories lingered, clung to my mind and refused to let go.  Panther blood was splattered across the blade of my lance and a little on my skin, but it felt good.  Cathartic.  The guardians of this Wood that would never again be mine, that had left me to die, were being ripped apart by my hands.  It was less than it deserved, but it was a start.  I must have been projecting, must have let my own feelings about this place distort what what was happening to me, because it seemed like the monsters of Golmore attacked me more than anyone else in the party.  It suited me fine, more Panther and Gargoyle blood for me to spill, but I wondered if it were true or just something I imagined.  
  
Fran led us, moving us down the elevated paths that I once did not fear, paths above a Wood I used to be sure would catch me if I fell.  I now suspected that these vines might trip me on purpose just to watch me tumble off the edge.  We did not speak, and I suspected that it was my outburst that had so shifted the atmosphere of the group.  I wished it hadn't happened, that I'd been stronger, but what was done was done, and even now I couldn't muster any enthusiasm.  Every movement felt dangerous, like it might fracture something inside me again.  
  
I started to really believe my own conspiracy when a Treant, a usually docile creature, caught sight of us and immediately attacked.  It also fell by my blade.  
  
Things had not fallen apart yet, but we came up against a magical barrier spanning the path.  My heart, which had only just begun to function normally again, dropped to my stomach.  
  
Vaan reached out to touch the barrier, but he pulled his hand back as if it had shocked him.  "What is it?"  
  
It was Fran who spoke up, for my voice wouldn't work.  "The jungle denies us our passage."  
  
"What have we done?" Ashe asked, turning to her.  
  
"We?"  She scoffed.  "No.   _I_."  I didn't have the strength to contradict her.  She turned, and stalked off.  We were close, I realized.  So, so close.  
  
"What's that mean?" Vaan called after her.  "How're we supposed to get through that?  
  
Balthier sidled up beside her.  "Making an appearance?" he asked.  
  
"I am."  Her voice was tight, particularly for her.  
  
In the background, Vaan kept yelling, "Come on, I'm talking over here," and I didn't even have the strength to mock him for it.  
  
"I thought you'd left for good," Balthier continued.  
  
"Our choices are few."  Over Vaan's insistent needling, Fran continued, "This is as much for you as it is me."  
  
"Oh?"  Balthier's step paused, and he looked at her with raised eyebrows, the leading man caught off-guard.  
  
"You are ill at ease," Fran said, stopping to look back at him.  "The nethicite troubles you?"  The look on Balthier's face was enough to confirm it.  "You've let your eyes betray your heart."  She gave him a face that was almost a smirk.  
  
He stared after her for a moment, considering, and then shrugged.  "Right."  
  
Fran began to call on the path, her fingertip alight with the Wood's magicks, and I wondered for a moment if the Wood would respond to my call like that.  I didn't really want to find out.  
  
Vaan came up beside her and asked, "What are you doing?"  
  
She finished the incantation and turned back to him.  "Soon, you will learn."  Then, as it had once done for me, the path, verdant and green, appeared in the empty space and led into the jungle.  
  
Vaan's mouth hung open as my jaw clenched tightly.  
  
"We go to seek aid of the viera who dwell ahead," Fran continued, and her voice was still tight.  
  
Penelo came up beside her and said with a sweet smile, "I bet they'll be glad to see you after so long."  
  
Fran was quiet for a long moment, then she said, "I am unwelcome.  An unsought guest in their wood."  She stepped forward onto the path.  
  
"Are you coming, Karre?"  Basch's voice, addressed to me, made me jump.  He'd noticed I had not moved toward the path.  
  
I shook my head as the rest of the group turned to me.  "No."  
  
"You can't stay here by yourself," Aelia protested, looking around at the paths that monsters roamed.  "It's not safe."  
  
I shook my head again and took another step back.  " _No._ "  
  
Maeve's voice was surprisingly gentle when she said, "I can hold your hand, if you want.  Or put my whole arms around you."  She was smiling, baiting me, hoping to lift my spirits.  
  
But I could not smile in this place.  "I am never going back to that place," I said through clenched teeth.  "I swore.  Never again."  Tears again welled in my eyes, and my grip tightened on my lance.  When their eyes did not leave me, I said, "I survived this jungle on my own before, and I was less skilled and far more... broken."  I knew that they did not believe that, looking at me now, but it was true.  "Go, and do not linger."  I met Fran's eyes, reminded her of the promise she made me when we stepped into this place, and she nodded.  
  
Reluctantly, the group left me behind.  Balthier actually paused, turned back to look at me as though he was worried about leaving me here by myself.  But a nod from me set him in motion again.  
  
I wasn't sure how long they were gone.  It felt like a lifetime.  I was surrounded by monster corpses by the time they finally returned, blood up to my elbows.  
  
Vaan waved to me, and said, "Hey, Karre, we gotta go to the Henne Magicite Mines."  
  
The noise I made was something between a scoff, a laugh, and a sob.  "Great," I said, and my voice sounded hollow even to me.  
  
It was only another moment before Maeve ran up to me and grinned.  "Wait, Karre, guess what stupid thing Vaan did!"  
  
I looked into her golden eyes, which twinkled with amusement but perhaps also worry, and then over at Vaan, whose face turned pink and who seemed to shrink from us.  "What did he do?" I asked, and I thought I could hear a little more interest in my voice.  
  
Maeve's grin widened, and we started walking back the way we'd come, back toward Ozmone.  "So, this viera named Jote was giving us shit," she began, putting an arm around me.  "Saying all this bullshit about how viera gotta stay here, and Fran's all like, 'Nah, girl, we don't gotta do that.'"  I appreciated the editorializing, and the smallest smile found its way to my lips as I imagined Fran saying those things exactly.  Maeve saw it and took it as encouragement.  "So then Jote's like 'That's what you said fifty years ago.'"  
  
"Oh no," I said, anticipating the story's direction.  
  
Maeve laughed out loud in excitement and continued, "So we're leaving and Vaan's like 'Wait up, Fran.  If you said that fifty years ago, how old are you?'"  
  
And I laughed.  It was a miracle that this hume woman had accomplished, and I laughed.  I laughed in this hell-jungle, covered in blood and drowning in memory.  But Maeve had known exactly what to say, and she'd pushed away the darkness of this place for a little while, at least.  "What an idiot," I said, still chuckling.  
  
Vaan looked like he wanted to protest, but he thought better of it, anticipating a larger listing of his mistakes if he did.  Plus, I think, he was happy to see me smiling even if it was at his expense.  
  
I practically ran when I saw where Golmore turned into Ozmone, out into the sun and out from under that suffocating canopy.  There were two Imperial soldiers and a chocobo resting in the small glade, and one of them turned to me when he saw me.  "T-Traveler... have you a potion on you?  My friend is badly wounded...  I fear that, untreated... he'll die."  This man's voice rasped with pain as well.  
  
Steeped as I was in memories of my past, the idea of a man dying because he didn't have access to the proper medicine nearly knocked the breath from me.  I knelt beside them and reached into my pack for a potion.  I swallowed hard and handed it to him.  "Here," I said weakly.  
  
He took the potion and fed it to his friend.  He turned back to me as my companions joined us and said, "Thanks to you, my friend's life is saved.  We are in your debt.  We fled here from the Henne Mines.  We were attacked, you see...  It was all we could do to make it this far."  
  
I turned and looked back at the rest of my party, and we exchanged apprehensive glances.  
  
"We'll rest here until my friend's wounds have had a chance to heal," the Imperial continued.  "If you like, we could lend you the use of a chocobo until then."  
  
"Thank you," I said, and I stood and turned toward the chocobo.  "Let's go find out what's terrorizing that Mine, then."


	23. Henne

There were bodies strewn about the entrance to the mines.  Soldiers and civilians with various injuries lay dead on the ground.  
  
"Researchers from the Draklor Laboratory," Larsa breathed, looking away.  "What were they doing here?"  
  
Balthier's lip curled, and his brows furrowed.  "Research."  He walked in without looking back.  
  
I followed, feeling almost numb.  It was everything I could do to keep that jungle from getting to me too bad, from falling to my knees again and refusing to move.  The mines were fairly empty except for the Seekers swooping down at us.  I killed them without thinking about it, following the party deeper into the mines.  
  
I barely noticed when Balthier said beside me, "Are you alright?"  
  
I shook off the haze in my head and turned to look at him.  He was watching me with those beautiful green eyes.  I shrugged.  "No."  
  
He raised an eyebrow.  "You know that it's alright to lie when someone asks you that."  
  
I chuckled before I realized it was happening.  I rolled my eyes.  "A hundred years couldn't make it alright.  A few minutes isn't going to help."  The shift in his face was almost imperceptible, the surprise at the "hundred years" I'd spent out of the Wood.  He'd honed his bluffing face well, but a bit of the shock at the span of time snuck through.  I remembered the story that Maeve told me when they returned from Eruyt about Vaan asking Fran how old she was, and I chuckled again.  "Yes, older than Fran."  A slight pink crept onto his cheeks at being caught making the same mistake, and I shook my head.  "No, don't worry about it.  It's not a big deal to me."  It had been a long time since I cared about being old by hume standards.  
  
We were quiet for a few moments.  I couldn't begin to guess what he must think of me now.  I'd been such a mess in the whole time he'd known me.  Wearing a brash, arrogant mask that day in the sewers, I'd felt it crack and shatter in the days since.  Every now and then, I forgot to keep it up and the broken, lonely, needy person I'd become burst through.  He was observant, clever.  He'd surely seen it all, had seen and judged every part of me that I'd let show, these two extremes that existed within me.  I was sure that he thought ill of me for a whole plethora of reasons, for many of the reasons I thought poorly of myself, yet here he was, by my side, asking if I was alright.  
  
I cleared my throat.  "Can I ask you something?"  
  
"What is it?"  Not a "yes," but not a "no."  
  
"I mean, you might not even know.  It's...  Can Fran hear the Wood?"  I felt heat on my cheeks, and I wondered if he knew just what I was asking.  I assumed that Fran and Balthier shared everything with each other.  I assumed that he knew.  Whether or not he would tell me would be a different story.  
  
His head tilted, and I guessed that it was not a question that he was expecting.  He glanced at his partner, walking ahead with the rest of the group, and turned back to me.  "Yes, but I think not as well as she used to," he admitted.  "The finer points of how this works elude me, and she's not keen on talking about it, but Jote said as much when we were in Eruyt."  He watched my face, searching for a greater explanation.  He continued, "Jote seemed to think that spending time among humes was the cause of it."  
  
An invitation, but not a direct question.  He was offering me a chance to speak, to confide in him, but letting the choice be mine.  I felt a pang in my chest that had nothing to do with my history and everything to do with the present.  After a silence so long that Balthier turned away, sure that I would not answer, I said quietly, "I can't hear the Wood at all."  
  
Balthier considered for a moment, then said, "You've been gone from that place for a long time."  
  
I swallowed hard and said even more quietly, "Her voice started to dim in my ears before I left Eruyt.  I'd never met a hume in my life."  
  
His step halted for a moment, and I turned to find him studying me.  "Does that happen?"  
  
"Not that I've ever heard of.  Though, I don't know if they've heard of it now," I added.  "I ran without telling anyone."  I stared at the ground, unable to meet his gaze.  I didn't know why I'd told him, why I'd wanted to tell him.  My greatest shame, laid bare before this clever, beautiful man who had offered to listen.  I shouldn't have told him.  It was stupid, so stupid.  He didn't need to know; I hadn't needed to tell him.  I'd never even told Torrhen, had been too ashamed to consider it.  "Perhaps She sensed something in me that I hadn't seen myself.  Perhaps that's why...  Perhaps that's why."  
  
"I'm sorry."  
  
It was the first time I'd heard it, the first time that anyone had apologized for what hand fate had dealt me.  No one had ever known so no one could have.  I stared at him, unsure what to say.  Eventually, I managed, "Thanks."  I yearned to have him wrap me in his arms and hold me, to assure me, knowing this great shame I bore, that I was not worthless.  It was a silly, stupid wish, but that did not stop me from wishing it.  
  
He nodded, stayed beside me for a moment longer, then caught up with the rest of the party.  
  
I was left alone after that, which was probably good.  I might have cried if anyone else had been kind to me then, and I don't know if I would have been able to stop.  It hurt still, would always hurt.  Even when I was on the other side of the world from this damn Wood, it would hurt.  But I told myself that I was rebuilding, that I had found a group of people who would not abandon me, that I was beginning to love and who valued my presence.  Whether they knew it or not, they would help heal me.  Slowly, they were helping to fill this giant, fucking chasm in my chest with warmth and light, and I would not let that place get in the way of it.  
  
It was new.  When I ran from the Wood a hundred years ago, I had been alone.  When I ran from Dalmasca twenty years after that, I had been alone again.  No one had ever been there to help me pick up the pieces, but I was not alone now.  I had Balthier and Maeve and Vaan and Basch and Penelo and even Fran and Aelia and Ashe.  I was not alone.  
  
Up ahead, the group slowed and Larsa said, "Look at the magicite.  These mines much resemble the ones at Lhusu."  He gave a slight intake of breath.  "Of course.  Draklor must be searching for new sources of ore.  Should the Resistance move, the magicite in Bhujerba will be forever beyond their grasp."  
  
Vaan gasped, and I followed his gaze to the dead Imperial soldier sprawled on the ground.  
  
Fran gasped next.  "Is it her?  What is this Mist?" she asked, mostly to herself.  
  
I felt nothing, only a normal, slight tinge of Mist.  I followed.  
  
Fran looked up at the sound of footsteps.  "Mjrn!"  
  
A young viera with short white hair staggered in through one of the tunnels, a vacant expression on her face.  "The stench of humes.  The stench of power," she said, her voice as distant as her eyes.  
  
Ashe walked up beside Fran.  "What's wrong with her?"  
  
Mjrn heard that, her head whipping toward us and focusing on Ashe.  "Stay away!  Power-needy hume!"  She pointed a clawed fingertip at the princess, then ran back the way she had come, her legs still somewhat unsteady.  
  
We ran after her, but waiting in the cavern that opened up before us was a giant wyrm.  We surrounded it, attacking on all sides in hopes of confusing it.  It was not difficult for me to slip into that calm, killing place and attack and attack and attack until wyrm blood mingled with the lingering splatters of panther and imp blood.  
  
The wyrm eventually fell, and Mjrn came out from whatever nook she'd tucked herself away in, holding a stone.  She let it tumble from her hand and it shattered on the ground.  Then, behind her and around her and inside her, a specter shimmered, some being that looked down at us without speaking, and then vanished.  The force of its departure sapped the strength from Mjrn, and she tumbled forward.  
  
"That thing inside her.  What was it?" Vaan asked as Fran rushed forward.  
  
Fran knelt beside Mjrn, cradling her in her arms.  Slowly, consciousness returned to Mjrn, and her eyes lit up when she saw Fran kneeling over her.  "Is it you?" she asked.  Fran merely nodded, and Mjrn sighed and smiled, leaning deeper into Fran's arms.  
  
Fran helped her up, and we all found a place to rest nearby as Mjrn explained.  "When the hume soldiers came to the Wood, the village took small heed of them.  So long as the Wood Herself is safe from harm, the viera give little care to goings on beyond Her.  But in me, an uneasiness stirred.  I had to discover why they had come."  She looked away from us.  
  
"So you came here hoping to find something out, and got yourself caught," Balthier said, a slight smirk on his face.  "You're as foolhardy as your sister."  He and Fran exchanged a glance, one born of deep understanding and slight amusement, and again I found myself jealous of Fran.  
  
Mjrn continued, "They took me then, and set close beside me a stone.  They said its Mist would be drawn into me, that the viera well suited this end.  I saw the light coming from the stone, and then-"  
  
"We have seen this," Fran cut in.  "On  _Leviathan_ , the Mist released from the Dawn Shard drove me, too, into such a rage.  She was taken not by the Dawn Shard."  
  
"Manufacted nethicite," Larsa said knowingly.  Fran nodded, and he turned to Penelo.  "Then that means - Penelo, the stone I gave you, do you still carry it with you?"  
  
Penelo nodded, and reached into her pack.  "Sure, it's right here."  
  
Larsa snatched it from her hand and turned away from her.  "This is a thing more dangerous again than I had imagined.  I should never have given it to you."  There was true pain in his eyes as he said, "Forgive me, I did not know."  
  
Penelo gave the boy a soft smile and said, "I'd always thought of it as a sort of good luck charm."  Larsa's face lifted in pleasant surprise.  "And, even if it is dangerous, on  _Leviathan_  it kept us safe."  
  
Larsa turned back to look at her, his eyes bright with relief, and Aelia watched the exchanged with a soft, amused smile.  
  
Ashe said softly, "There is a place for all things, even danger such as this."  
  
Vaan studied her carefully and said, "I hope you're right about that."


	24. A Campfire Story

We left the mines. Fran and Mjrn spoke quietly with each other as we walked, and Aelia continued to talk with Larsa. Maeve kept doing something, but I was having trouble willing myself to focus on what exactly that was. We were out of the mines and walking across Ozmone again when she came up beside me, holding out a hand and grinning.

"Hmm," I said, looking down into her open palm. "I gotta say, that bracelet Balthier gave me was a better gift." She was holding out a plethora of pebbles for one reason or another, assumedly picked up while we were in Henne.

She elbowed me in the ribs, and we laughed. "It's not a gift," she hissed at me, keeping her voice down. She stopped, considered, then shrugged. "Well, kinda, but not alone." At my stare, she picked one out of the pile, pulled her hand back as she aimed, and tossed it at Vaan's head in front of us. Immediately, she looked away, feigning innocence.

I didn't look away, but I kept my face carefully blank. Vaan felt the impact, rubbed at his head, and looked around for what could have hit him. He even looked over at us, but Maeve wasn't looking at him, and my uninterested look was enough to convince him that we had nothing to do with it. He quickly gave up, assuming probably that it had been some nasty thing from nature coming to get him.

When he turned back around, we laughed. Quietly, inconspicuously, but we laughed. She held out her hand again, and this time I took a pebble. I threw it so that it hit him on the strip of skin between his pants and vest. He scratched at the spot, looking around again in irritated confusion. But we pretended not to know anything about it, and he unhappily turned back around. "Okay, it's a pretty good gift," I said quietly to Maeve, who had once again pulled me out of that darkness inside myself.

She grinned and threw another pebble.

Something made me turn and look to the left, and I found Balthier's eyes on us. That was fair; we were throwing pebbles at a boy. I felt my face get hot under his gaze, so to distract from that I grinned at him. Not a flirty grin; there was no reason at this point to bother with that. Just a grin that fully accepted that he'd caught me in this prank and that I didn't have any remorse.

Somehow, it was nearly enough to keep me afloat when we got back to Golmore. Nearly enough. I felt like I was hovering just below the surface, still drowning but so close to safety. I ushered them back to Eruyt without me, and this time no one bothered protesting. I'd survived on my own earlier; I would be fine now.

I should tell them, I thought, slashing at a Treant that lumbered menacingly toward me. Balthier had not turned away from me; perhaps the others would not, either. They had not done so yet. But what if they did? What would I do then? I would have nothing. Again. I would have tasted something like happiness just to have it ripped away from me again.

Before I could really decide, before I could figure out if it would hurt more to keep my past a secret or to give voice to that pain, they returned. Mjrn was not with them.

Vaan held something up so that I could see. "We can use this to get through the barriers!" he called to me from still on the path.

I nodded because my throat was too tight to voice my response. I started off toward Paramina without waiting for them, and I had to wait at the barrier for them to catch up. I found myself moving mechanically again, that aching numbness back again. Even Maeve's pebbles, and Maeve getting caught by Vaan, couldn't pull me out of myself.

I don't know when I started crying, but soon my vision blurred with tears of pain and anger. I didn't bother trying to wipe them away; my hands were caked with blood, and I doubted they would stop while I lingered under this oppressive canopy of branches.

Maeve came up beside me. She didn't say anything, just started hitting things with me.

It was such an easy rhythm that we barely noticed the giant mound in the small cavern we'd stumbled upon. We did notice when the ground shook, and what had seemed merely like moss-covered stone stood. The wyrm was covered in moss and grass, speckled with flowers and fungus, and its movements dislodged some of the rock above. Giant stones came crashing down behind us, blocking our path back.

My eyes, still wet, turned to the beast. I snarled and charged, swinging my lance with every ounce of my strength. Slash after slash after slash, and the tears slowed. There was catharsis in every injury I inflicted on this guardian of the Wood, and each bit centered me.

I had no awareness of my companions, and it took a long moment for me to realize that the wyrm had ceased moving. There was silence behind me. I lodged my lance into its carcass and wiped at my face, trying to remove some of the tears still there and the spores and pollen that the wyrm had excreted. I forgot that my hands were dripping with wyrm blood, though, and ended up smearing it over my face. I stared at my hand, watched as it shook, and waited for my mind to catch up and think of something to do to fix it.

"Here."

It was Balthier, handing me a piece of cloth. A handkerchief. I stared at it for a long moment before taking it. I wiped my face clean, then did what I could with my hands, and held it back out it him.

"No, keep it." When I opened my mouth to protest, he raised an eyebrow. "It's disgusting. I don't want it back."

I looked back down at it. He was right. It was soaked through with blood and spores and who knew what else. I closed my hand around it and looked back up at him. He wasn't amused, but there was a twinkle of something in his eyes, so I said, not yet able to smile but no longer crying, "I'll wash it first, then."

He regarded the handkerchief, and it was clear that he did not believe that I could ever clean it enough to suit him, but he shrugged and nodded anyway.

I tucked it away and said to the group that had quietly watched the exchange, "We're almost out of this place. Let's go."

* * *

We set up camp just outside the jungle, before the chill of Paramina could set in and affect us. There was a heavy energy over the group; people seemed reluctant to speak.

The only sound was the crackling fire, logs cut from Golmore burning before us, until Maeve said, "Whose turn is it to tell a story?"

Before I could convince myself not to, I began with a voice that still shook, "Once upon a time, there was a young viera who lived in the Wood." I felt everyone's eyes on me, but I didn't have the strength to meet them. Instead, I stared into the fire, watched as it consumed the wood beneath it. "Her world was small, only a village and the trees around it, but she was happy. She didn't need anything else, not when she had her people and the voice of the Wood on her ears." I took a deep breath because I couldn't continue right away. No one interrupted. "She would have been happy to live her whole life like that, couldn't even understand how anyone could want something else. She would have, but, so slowly that she wasn't even sure at first that it was happening, the voice of the Wood began to dim in her ears. It wasn't supposed to happen like that. It was the humes who came between Wood and viera, and she had no contact with humes.

"She told no one," I continued, and the group around the fire remained silent as they listened. "She was ashamed; surely she had done something unforgivable, and the Wood was punishing her for it, but without knowing what she had done wrong she could not hope to fix it. And then she ran. She fled her home and her people because she could not stand the feeling that everyone who looked at her knew the disgrace she bore. She ran from the Wood that had cast her out and had not bothered to tell her why. She ran," my voice cracked and the fire blurred, "from the only thing she had ever known because it had seen her and judged her broken beyond repair.

"It almost killed her: running," I continued, taking a shaky breath. "She was alone and distressed and struggling with the idea that it might be better if she stopped fighting and just let this new world beyond the Wood swallow her whole." It had been so hard to put one foot in front of the other, and I still remembered sitting down that day in Giza and expecting to never get up. "But it did not kill her, and though it took time there came a day when felt okay. And she swore that she would never ever return to that place that had taken everything from her."

I jumped in surprise when arms wrapped around my middle. I looked down and saw Penelo, who had been sitting next to me, hugging me tightly. It was a kindness I was still not sure I deserved, and my throat got a little tighter.

"But," Aelia started, and then paused and thought for another moment. "If she swore that she wouldn't go back... why would she?"

I met her gaze, a deep, probing look, and then looked around at everyone else seated around this fire. Maeve's gold eyes were wide and a little wet as she looked at me, Fran regarded me with some sadness but also a new understanding, and Balthier looked almost proud of me for telling the story to more than just him. I looked back at Aelia and said, "The alternative was letting it take everything away from her again, and that would worse." To have let them all go on when I could not...

Aelia raised her brows at me, then nodded.

Penelo let me go, then, and said, "I'm glad you're with us, Karre."

I had to take a few deep breaths to soften the lump in my throat, but I put a hand on her shoulder and said, "Me too, kid. Me too."


	25. Mt Bur-Omisace

I didn't even mind the cold.  Each step forward, though it was accompanied by a drop in temperature, was a gift because it was that much farther from that Wood.  One step after another, and it was just that much easier to breathe.  Tiny increments of relief, but they would add up.  It was enough, at least, that I could  _act_  alright again.  That was always the first step, acting okay.  Usually, even I started to believe the lie.  Somewhat.  
  
Vaan noticed the shift in my mood and smiled at me.  "How ya doing?"  
  
I smiled back.  "We're using a Gate Crystal to get wherever we need to go next, by the way," I said in a voice that was nearly cheerful.  "I don't care what it's going to cost, how many teleport stones I'll need, how it'll happen; it  _will_ happen."  I would burn teleport stones on back-and-forth trips to my place in Rabanastre if I needed to.  I was not going to walk back through that jungle.  
  
Basch nodded.  "I think we can manage that."  It would be easier, anyway, just more expensive, and since we hadn't been on the other side of Golmore at the start of the journey, we couldn't have used Gate Crystals to get here.  The return trip would be doable, and I was going to do it if it burned holes in every one of my pockets.  
  
As we went, we started to see other groups of people.  None of them looked well-off.  Their clothing was tattered and dirty, and there was an exhaustion in their eyes as they headed toward But-Omisace.  
  
We saw a monk, and Aelia approached him.  "Is this the way to Bur-Omisace?" she asked.  
  
He nodded.  "Mt. Bur-Omisace is to the northeast.  Should you go south, you'll enter the rift...  Take care.  Gods guide your path.  Faram."  
  
"Faram.  Thank you."  
  
We went to the northeast, up the snowy paths sandwiched between high cliffs.  
  
Another group of particularly rough-looking refugees walked past, and Balthier said, "Empires parade down city streets, while refugees walk barefoot through the snow."  
  
Larsa turned to him.  "And so I sue for peace to stop short war and ease their suffering.  My father will choose peace."  
  
"Will he now?" Balthier replied quickly in what was almost a snap.  "You sound sure of yourself.  You can never know another, even your father," he said with no small amount of disgust.  He walked on.  
  
Larsa looked at the ground, and his hands clenched into fists.  
  
Aelia shot Balthier a dirty look and put a hand on Larsa's shoulder.  Vaan said quietly to the boy, "Don't take it the wrong way, okay?"  
  
He sighed, nodded slowly, then followed.  
  
I watched Balthier as we continued.  I'd be lying if I said I wasn't a little relieved that someone else's bullshit was taking over for my own, but I hated to see what had come over Balthier.  His body was tense, jaw tight, and he refused to look at anyone.  Even Fran kept away.  
  
I wondered what he was hiding, what skeleton lay in that closet.  Daddy issues, apparently, but what kind?  Plus, there was that thing Fran said before entering Eruyt: "You've let your eyes betray your heart"?  About nethicite?  Were those two different skeletons or the same one?  It wasn't my business, really.  I was still keeping secrets, even if I'd shared some of them.  I couldn't hold Balthier's secrets against him.  
  
Unfortunately, he caught me staring.  "What?" he said rather harshly.  
  
I held up my hands nonconfrontationally, but I moved closer so that I wouldn't have to talk so loud to be heard.  "Look, whatever that was about - you know, when you yelled at that  _little boy_?  I don't need to know."  He seemed at once offended and relieved.  I shrugged.  "Shit, I'm the  _last_  person with any right to pry a backstory out of someone.  Keep it a secret or don't, that's on you.  I think I've got a right to be a little curious, though."  He stared at me then, brows knit, and it lasted so long that my face got hot.  "What?"  
  
"You really aren't even going to ask," he said as though he still didn't quite believe it.  
  
I laughed, and it was the first laugh since leaving Golmore and it felt wonderful.  I said, "It's that 'do unto others' shit.  I've still got questions I don't want to answer.  What kind of asshole would I be if I asked you while I was still keeping secrets?"  
  
He didn't laugh, but his body relaxed, and he shrugged and nodded.  "I suppose you're right."  
  
As we came in view of a hub of activity, I laughed again and said, "I usually am.  I'm smart like that."  
  
Maeve ran up to us and slapped me on the back when she arrived.  "Hey, Laughing Karre.  How are ya?"  
  
I looked at her and shrugged.  "Better, but I guess that's saying very little."  She made a face that seemed like agreement.  "I still feel like I'm in the middle of the ocean treading water a little, but at least I'm not drowning.  And, honestly, that's better than I would have thought I'd feel right now, so I'll take it."  But within another few seconds, I had looked to the right and a strong wave of vertigo had come over me and I'd had to close my eyes tightly.  "Just kidding; I just saw that giant fucking cliff.  I'm no longer better."  
  
Maeve snorted and I felt two arms wrap around me, and then I snorted too.  "I am ready to lead you, my dizzy friend," she said valiantly.  
  
I laughed weakly, again grateful for my friend.  "Lead on, then," I said, and I opened my eyes just enough so that I could see the ground beneath my feet.  
  
I didn't even see the temple until we were at the door and Maeve let go of me, and then it was too tall and the cliff too near behind me for me to see it properly.  We entered, and stood in a room lit by stained glass windows stretching up multiple stories.  In front of us, across the long room lined with shallow, still pools of water, was the Gran Kiltias Anastasis.  He was an ancient-looking Helgas in an ornate robe.  He stood with his eyes closed and did not move as we approached.  
  
We stood looking at him in silence for a long moment, waiting for him to speak, until Vaan said, "Is he sleeping?"  
  
Ashe shushed him immediately.  
  
" _No, my child,_ " the Gran Kiltias said, but his mouth did not move and his eyes did not open.  " _I do not sleep.  I dream.  For reality and illusion are a duality, two parts of a whole.  Only the mirror of dreams reflects what is true._ "  We looked around at each other, just to be sure that we had  _all_  heard that voice inside our heads.  
  
Ashe stepped forward.  "Anastasis, Your Grace, I am Ashelia-"  
  
" _Lay down your words.  Ashelia, daughter of Raminas. I have dreamt your dream_ ," the Gran Kiltias interrupted, and I took no small amount of satisfaction in seeing the Princess falter.  " _Who better to carry on the Dalmascan line that she who bears the Dawn Shard?  Your dream of a kingdom restored is known to me._ "  
  
Larsa stepped forward, and I caught a quick glimpse of the pride in Aelia's eyes as she watched him.  "Gran Kiltias, then give us your blessing.  Grant the Lady Ashe her accession-"  
  
"I do not suppose," came a heavily-accented voice from the doorway behind us, "this is something you might... reconsider?"  The man it belonged to was... a lot, even for me.  He wore sunglasses, had feathered dark hair on his head, chin, and chest, and he wore a dark shirt unbuttoned so that we all might see his hairy chest.  He wore close-fitting white pants that left very little to the imagination, particularly as he walked forward.  He came in with a reserved woman in a plain dress.  "My little emperor-in-waiting," he continued, looking at Larsa with something of a smile.  "You called and I have come."  
  
Larsa held out his hand for the man to shake, but he instead patted the boy on the head.  Larsa made a face, pushed the hand off his head, and softly groaned.  He turned to Ashe.  "This is the man I wanted you to meet.  Believe it or not, he is a member of the noble House Margrace, rulers of the Rozarrian Empire."  
  
The Rozarrian walked past Larsa and up to Ashe, saying, "I am but one of very, very many.  Try as I might, I could not stop this war alone, thus I came seeking Larsa's assistance."  Very dramatically, he took off his sunglasses, and the woman beside him took them from him.  "Al-Cid Margrace, at your service.  To think I stand before the Lady Ashe.  It is truly an honor."  Then, the man got down on one knee and took Ashe's hand so that he could kiss it.  He looked up at her, hands still together, and said, "I see it is true after all.  Ah, stunning is Dalmasca's desert bloom."  
  
Beside me, Penelo gasped at the display, and I noticed the Aelia's green eyes were fixed on the man, her face turning red.  Balthier rolled his eyes at the display, as did Larsa.   _Interesting_ , I thought, and I tucked all those reactions away.  
  
" _In Archadia, Larsa.  In Rozarria, Al-Cid.  They dream not of war,_ " the Gran Kiltias said.  " _Should empire join with empire, the way will open for a new Ivalice in our time_."  
  
Al-Cid let out a bark of laughter.  "Gran Kiltias!  You speak much of dreams, but in the real world, war is upon us."  
  
Ashe stepped forward, brows furrowed.  "Gran Kiltias, I was told my coming here would prevent this war.  I was to assume my father's throne and announce the restoration of Dalmasca...  Treat with the Empire for  _peace_  and persuade the Resistance to stay their hand.  I have not come all this way to reconsider!"  
  
Al-Cid regarded her with a sedate interest.  "A word from you and the Resistance would stop cold, and Rozarria's pretext for joining the war... scattered, off to the four winds.  This was what we had hoped.  Alas, circumstances change.  A full two years have passed since your reported death.  Were it to become known that you were still alive, I fear it could only worsen our current situation."  
  
"Because I am powerless to help," Ashe spat, and we knew that her disgust was aimed mostly at herself.  
  
"Ah, nay, in fact it has little to do with you," Al-Cid said, brushing away the idea with a wave of his hand.  
  
"Then what?" Larsa asked, stepping forward.  "If Lady Ashe were to extend her hand in friendship, perhaps I could then persuade the Emperor.  His Excellency will solve things peacefully-"  
  
"The Emperor Gramis is no more," Al-Cid interrupted.  "His life was taken."


	26. Paramina Rift

Larsa gasped and took an unconscious step back.  "Father!"  Aelia ran up to him and put her hand on his shoulders.  The blush on her cheeks was gone, and she stared in horrified confusion at the Rozarrian.  
  
There was a palpable silence in the room.  I didn't care much personally, but it certainly wasn't going to make things easier for us, and I didn't like seeing Larsa so upset.  
  
Al-Cid gave a quick look at the boy, then continued to Ashe, "Let us suppose you approach the Empire with a peaceful resolution.  The late Emperor Gramis would have lent you his ear, that much is certain, but we are dealing with Vayne Solidor.  Should the Princess return, he would claim her an impostor, all to tempt the Resistance into battle."  He turned to the rest of us.  "Vayne wants this war, that much is certain.  As our ill luck would have it, the man is a military genius."  
  
Larsa's face continued to fall as the death of his father mingled with the death of his plans and his hopes for peace.  Aelia sensed it in him and pulled him into a hug.  He leaned against her.  
  
" _The dreams have told me thus_ ," Anastasis said in our minds.  " _To reveal yourself would imperil us all.  I see war, and Vayne's name writ bold on history's page._ "  
  
"Archadia's banners fly high," Al-Cid continued.  "They are making ready for the coming war.  According to our latest reports..."  He held out a hand, and the woman with him handed him a sheet of paper.  He read from the page.  "The Western Armada prepares for war, under Vayne's command no less.  The newly formed Twelfth Fleet has already been deployed.  Oh yes, the Imperial First Fleet stands ready.  They'll be under way as soon as the  _Odin_ 's refit is complete.  And there is more: the Second Kerwon Expeditionary Force is being called in to replace the missing Eighth, so there will be no gaps.  The largest force ever seen!"  He folded the paper angrily and looked to Ashe.  
  
"And then," she said, "the nethicite is the coup de grâce."  The Rozarrian nodded.  Ashe turned to the Garn Kiltias.  "Gran Kiltias, Your Grace, I spoke to you of my succession.  Let us put that aside.  Should I become Queen of Dalmasca now, powerless as I am, I can protect nothing.  With a greater power at my disposal, perhaps then."  
  
" _It is the nethicite of which you dream_?" he asked.  
  
"I require something far greater."  
  
The Gran Kiltias's eyes snapped open, and he said aloud, "To wield power against power.  Truly the words of a hume-child."  
  
"I am descended from the Dynast-King himself," Ashe replied, as if that refuted the criticism.  
  
"Indeed."  He regarded her somewhat warily.  "Then you have but one choice.  Seek you the other power Raithwall left."  
  
"Does such a thing exist?" Ashe asked, stepping forward.  
  
He nodded.  "Journey across the Paramina Rift to the Stilshrine of Miriam.  There rests the gift he entrusted to the Gran Kiltias of his time.  Seek it out.  The Sword of Kings can cut through nethicite."  Ashe turned to leave, but he continued, "Why he would entrust the power to destroy nethicite, the instrument of his greatness to another and not his own progeny, I cannot say."  He gave her another weighing look.  "Awaken Ashelia B'nargin and take up your sword, or your dream will remain but a dream."  
  
She nodded at him, gave a last look at Larsa who was still staring blankly into the distance, and walked off toward the door.  
  
Basch hesitated, looking inquisitively at Aelia, who had made no move to join us.  
  
She shook her head.  "I think perhaps I am better suited here right now.  Go on.  I will be here when you return," she said, giving us a sad smile.  
  
He nodded, and the rest of us seemed to agree that Larsa needed her more than we did.  
  
Before she left, Penelo said quietly to Larsa, "I'm sorry.  We'll be back."  
  
I let Maeve guide me back down Bur-Omisace until we were safely nestled in the ravines of the Rift.  
  
"What direction?" Vaan asked, looking around.  It seemed like it would be easy to get lost here, and in the cold, which was not yet unbearable, that would be deadly.  
  
"South," Fran announced, looking in that direction as though she could see our destination already.  
  
"Then let us be quick," Ashe said, starting off.  
  
When we got going, I turned to Maeve.  "You see how Aelia was watching Al-Cid?"  
  
She snorted.  "Gods, yeah."  She stopped walking so that she could make a face that looked somewhere between arousal and confusion.  It was disturbingly accurate.  
  
I cackled and elbowed her, and we kept walking.  "I wouldn't have though 'hairy manslut' was her thing, but I guess you never know."  
  
We laughed a little harder, then Maeve thought of something and laughed so hard she had to stop, doubled over and gasping for breath.  When she was finally able to, she wheezed, "I bet his gator is  _super_ woolly."  
  
I screeched, mouth hanging open as that very distinct image came into my mind and absolutely would not leave.  From nearby, Vaan snorted and Penelo sighed.  When we could breathe and walk again, Maeve and I went side-by-side.  I looked around at our other companions.  Vaan was still snickering while Penelo rolled her eyes at him; Ashe pretended like she hadn't heard, but her face was bright red so she definitely had; Fran was characteristically impassive, but I got the feeling that she was considering just how much she agreed with our assumptions; Basch was mildly pink-cheeked, but there was a hint of a smile on his face too; and Balthier was walking with a single eyebrow raised, probably also consider the Rozarrian's woolly gator.  
  
And I looked at Maeve, who had managed to make me laugh so hard that my stomach hurt the day after I relived the most traumatic experience of my life.  She kept doing that, making me forget to be sad or angry or lonely.  It was a long time since I'd had a friend, but I don't think I could have asked for a better one than Maeve.  
  
She caught me staring at her and narrowed her eyes at me.  "What?"  
  
I shrugged, suddenly self-conscious.  "I dunno.  I was just thinking how grateful I am that you passed out on that airship."  
  
Maeve's eyes opened wide.  "Holy shit, Karre loves me," she said, and her golden eyes sparkled.  
  
My face got hot, and I tried to step away.  "Wait, calm down.  I just-"  
  
She turned to Fran who was walking right beside her and said, "Hey, Karre loves me, did you know?"  She went to Ashe next.  "Karre loves me."  
  
"I'm in Hell," I said, groaning but still smiling.  
  
"But I'm with you, and you love me, so you can't be in Hell," Maeve countered, a giant, shit-eating grin on her face.  
  
"If you try to kiss me again, I'll kill you."  
  
She met my stare, the fire of challenge burning in her eyes, and then she threw out her arms and started running at me.  I shrieked and ran, trying to keep in mind what direction we needed to go, how slippery the ground might be, and where the wolves, yetis, and zombies were lurking.  I was surer on my feet than my perpetually inebriated friend, and I was avoiding her grasp up until she slipped.  With a yell, she fell and slid on the icy snow.  Laughing, I went over to lend her a hand.  She took it but pulled me to the ground next to her.  We lay laughing in the snow until our party caught up with us.  
  
Penelo looked at us with one raised eyebrow.  "You know, you two act more like kids than Vaan and I do."  
  
"And that's saying something," Vaan added, "because she thinks I'm particularly childish."  
  
I shrugged.  It was hard to argue with either of those proclamations.  "I am what I am."  
  
Basch looked at us both with mild amusement and asked, "Are you two alright?"  
  
I looked at Maeve, who had really fallen, but, other than the fact that Basch was leaning over us, she seemed fine.  "We're good."  
  
He smiled and held out his hand to help Maeve up.  She stared at it for a long moment before finally, cautiously taking it.  Improvement.  A small step in the right direction, but it still counted.  I took his hand after she was up.  
  
"If you're quite finished, we have a sword to retrieve," Balthier said, walking past.  
  
Maeve rolled her eyes, but we followed.  Not long after, Maeve got close to me and said in what was almost a whisper, "I'm pretty grateful, too, Kar-Bear."


End file.
